When the First Love Ends
by Taiyou no Yume
Summary: When Usui and her broke up four years ago, Misaki was convinced she was never going to see him again. But, fate had something different in store for them and suddenly she finds Usui in front of her again. He looks almost the same as she remembered. Except now he's down on one knee with a diamond ring in his hand.
1. When the First Love Ends, 初めての恋が終わる時

**HEY GUYS! I'm back with a new maid-sama fanfic! It's been a while since I posted anything and this has been sitting in my computer for a while and I finally decided to give it a shot :D I'm trying a new style by naming the chapters by the titles of songs. You don't have to listen to the songs but it'll definitely help the atmosphere :3. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story and stick with me through the journey!**

* * *

 **When the First Love Ends**

 _繋がりたい、どれほど願っただろう。この手は空っぽ。ねえ、「サヨウナラ」ってこういう事？_ _I want to hold hands with you, but no matter how much I wish it; these hands are still empty. Hey, is this really our farewell?_

* * *

A sleek black limousine stopped outside of a small apartment complex. From inside, a handsome young man with dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes stepped out, a huge smile plastered all over his face.

In one hand, he held a bouquet of beautiful red roses, and in the other he was clutching a small, black velvet box.

A nauseating mixture of excitement and nervousness pumped throughout his system as he approached the door. Today was the day. He was going to propose to the love of his life and hopefully she would accept him.

Shifting nervously, he knocked on the door.

"Coming!" a muffled voice called back.

Just like that, all of his nervousness melted away as his lips quirked up into a smile at the sound of her voice. God, how he had missed her.

He heard shuffling as someone came rushing towards the door before it swung open to reveal none other than the smiling raven-haired girl herself. Her golden eyes settled onto his face and they morphed into pure shock.

"Ta…Takumi," she breathed, her smile slowly dripping off her face with every syllable.

Still frozen at the door, she stuttered, "What…what are you doing here?"

The smile slowly started to melt from Usui's face at Misaki's reaction to his arrival. I mean, it was Misaki, he wasn't expecting to be showered with kisses or anything like that, but they hadn't really talked to or seen each other in over a month, and her tone wasn't embarrassed like it normally was, it sounded…dreading.

"What's wrong Misa? Not happy to see me?" he teased lightly, trying to lighten up the mood.

She frowned and leaned against doorframe with her arms crossed in front of her, "It's not that…" she sighed before opening the door wider and signaling for him to come in.

"I'll go make us some tea," she said and turned to go into the kitchen but Usui grabbed her by the arm, shaking his head.

"It's fine, I'm not that thirsty," he said politely as he winced to himself, when had they been reduced to this pathetic state?

This was Ayuzawa Misaki he was talking to, the girl he had been crazy over for the past four years, they were never this distant with each other, not even when they had first met.

She pursed her lips but complied anyways as she sighed and crossed her arms again, "Fine. Then why are you here?" she demanded harshly.

Usui flinched at her cold remark, "Ouch, Misa, can't I even come to visit my girlfriend?"

She scowled upon hearing his words as anger flashed across her features, "Yeah sure, if you can consider a person who you haven't contacted for the past _month_ your girlfriend then sure," she snapped sarcastically.

He looked up at her guiltily, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't contact you. Grandfather kept me really busy and-" he began but she didn't let him continue.

She snorted, "Oh he kept you ' _busy_ ' did he?" she scoffed, "Since when did you let him rule your life Usui?" she demanded, not stopping even as he winced at the last name.

"Did you know that if I wanted to call you I had to get wait listed?" she demanded, "I have to be _wait listed_ to talk to my own freaking _boyfriend_. That's absolute _bullshit_!" she yelled, "I am not some girl that you can just walk all over and then expect me to still be there at the end of the day!"

Placing the flowers down on her kitchen counter, he sighed, "I'm sorry Misaki, I never meant to make you feel that way. I won't even make excuses; I should have been there. I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you," he apologized.

"But you hurt me anyways!" she snapped and Usui flinched back, "All the times you weren't there, how do you think I felt?" then, without waiting for his reply, she powered on, "I was sad and I was lonely. And above all I was hurt my own boyfriend, the guy I _loved_ , couldn't even pick up the phone and try to contact me!" she yelled.

Misaki sighed and hugged herself, looking away from him, "I'm tired of this, Takumi," she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

Usui rushed over to her, taking her small hands in his.

"I'm sorry, Misaki. I really am. I'll won't do it again, just please, don't cry," he begged.

He moved to wipe a stray tear away from her cheek but she flinched back from is touch and withdrew her hands from his. Hurt flashed across his features but she just sighed and moved further away from him.

"Never mind," she said resignedly, "I don't want to be screaming at you. It's good that you came," she said, her voice grim as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I've been meaning to talk to you."

At the tone of her voice, he nervously clutched the box like it was his lifeline.

Sitting down on the armrest of her couch, Misaki looked up at him with big, pleading amber eyes as she said the sentence that would shatter the world as he knew it.

"I want to break up."


	2. Back to December

**Okay first omg, thank you guys for the awesome reviews! I didn't think I'd get so many on the first chapter! Thank you so much :3**

* * *

 **Back To December**

 _We small talk, work and the weather, your guard is up and I know why. Because the last time you saw me is still burned in the back of your mind. You gave me roses, and I left them there to die._

* * *

 _ **Four Years Later**_

A young woman with straight black locks and large amber eyes stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes glazed over almost completely.

Out of habit, she began absentmindedly tapping the pen in her hand on the desk top in a rhythmic motion; something always did during those rare occasions when she zoned out from her homework or studies.

The thick script set in front of her was untouched. She was supposed to memorize it, but she just couldn't bring herself to flip through the foreboding stack.

The week had been busy for Misaki and she was practically drained from all the activities. Her hectic schedule kept her completely busy and it was tiring till the point that she just didn't have the energy to carry on any longer.

Gently rested her chin her palm, she looked down at her desk, brushing her makeup table with the tips of her fingers as she stared at the poster covered wall in front of her in a daze.

It was weird to see her own face staring back at her, covered in makeup and dressed in various outfits…almost like it was a completely different person.

The corners of Misaki's lips quirked up into a smile, she didn't regret her decision of this vocation, but the choice did surprise her, as well as many others.

Yep, you guessed it. Miss-Ex-Demon-President-slash-Maid Ayuzawa Misaki was an actress, and a rather famous one at that.

It's surprising just how much four years can change a person.

She never imagined that this kind of high profile, paparazzi-filled life would ever appeal to her. And yet, here she was, sitting in her own dressing room (a very posh dressing room in fact) trying to memorize the script for the next movie she was to star in.

Just then, a sharp rap at the door interrupted her thoughts.

Straightening herself up, she answered, "Come in!"

A flash of brown hair appeared at her door as her secretary, Haruhi, popped her head in.

"Miss Ayuzawa, excuse me for disturbing," Haruhi apologized as she entered the room, bowing slightly, "But, a young man is here to see you. He doesn't have an appointment but…he's from Walker Corps," she trailed off worriedly.

Misaki's eyes widen at that and it was only because of years of practice of hiding her emotions that she was able to refrain from falling out of her chair in shock. Her heart thrummed so loudly in her chest that she was certain Haruhi could hear it from all the way across the room.

It had to be _him_. There wasn't anyone else from that company that would come to find her.

But then… _why_ would he ever come to see her again?

Millions of possible scenarios whirled around her head and her heart pounded painfully in her chest as she automatically assumed the worse. Did something happen? Was she in trouble? Was her family in trouble? Was _he_ in trouble?

Her thoughts stopped short at that as she scrunched up her nose in disgust. Why should she even care if he _was_ in trouble?

Misaki sighed inwardly, of course she cared. He was her first love. The first person she ever fully trusted, ever fully let in and revealed herself to. She broke down her walls for him and he did the same. He probably knew her better than anyone ever could. And, some part of her, no matter how grudgingly, would always love him.

And she knew it was the same for him.

It had been four years since she'd last seen him…but she wasn't sure she was ready to meet him again.

The day hadn't exactly gone well after all.

 _"I wanna break up," Misaki said with determination._

 _Even though she was seated, her stance was straight and rigid. Her fists were clenched as she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at him unflinchingly._

 _That was it, clean and simple, but yet it felt like everything was a mess just falling apart. Usui felt his heart run cold as he took a step back in shock._

 _"What? Why?" he stuttered out as he stared at her with an expression full of hurt and betrayal._

 _She looked at him with guilt shining in her doleful amber eyes._

 _"It's everything I guess," she whispered honestly, "Your family, my school life…we barely see each other anymore because of our clashing schedules. Our lives are just getting in the way of everything," she choked, wrapping her arms around herself in a futile attempt to hold it all together, "And I don't want to keep pretending everything's okay when it's not."_

 _"I'm sorry, Takumi," Misaki apologized, "But…i_ _t's too much, everything is just too much," she sighed, her body quivering slightly as tears threatened to fall from her eyes._

 _Usui felt his heart shatter into a million, tiny irreparable pieces as the words left her mouth. There was a dull ache in his chest as he watched her sob. Had it been any other time he would have swooped her up in an embrace and soothed her, no matter how mad she was at him, but he couldn't find the will to do that._

 _"So that's it? We're done? Just like that?" Usui asked, his bangs shadowing his eyes as he looked down._

 _She looked up at him mournfully, "I am so sorry Takumi, I really am," she whispered, "I never thought we would end, much less like this, but…I just_ can't _do this anymore."_

Shaking herself out of the flashback, the raven-haired girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. She didn't reply Haruhi for a while as a battle raged inside of her.

She didn't want to see him. Not ever again. Especially when she was already tired and short tempered from a long, strenuous week.

Even time couldn't heal some wounds, and the scars of their love were one of them. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want a reminder of the love she had left. Of _who_ she had left.

"Miss Ayuzawa?" Haruhi called out tentatively after her boss had remained silent for a while, "Do you want me to send him away?" she asked gently.

Misaki chewed on her lip nervously. It was an awfully tempting request, one she almost took Haruhi on. But, in the end she shook her head and sighed. Ayuzawa Misaki _never_ ran from her problems.

Groaning lightly, Misaki looked up at Haruhi.

"It's okay, let him in," she finally conceded, knowing fully well she was going to regret her decision.

Her secretary gave her a worried look, concerned about her employer's behavior but Misaki just smiled and waved it off.

And so, Haruhi bowed hesitantly and exited the room. Only to come back seconds later with a young man with dirty blonde hair and emerald green eyes in tow.

The young man looked up at her and as her eyes met his, Misaki resisted the urge to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't having a nightmare. As, once again, she was lost in two pools of all-too-familiar green.

Haruhi threw a furtive glance from her boss to the mysterious man as they stared each other down before awkwardly bowing towards them and scampering from the room to escape the awkward tension.

They didn't acknowledge her departure nor did they say anything for a while. Amber clashed with emerald as they soaked in each other's presence, both not really believing that the other party was standing right in front of them.

Finally the man broke the tense silence with a curt nod.

"Ayuzawa," he greeted politely as he smiled robotically at her.

"Usui."

* * *

It had been years since she had last seen his face, but she still remembered every detail about him with painful accuracy. Even the tiniest little details remained etched in her mind like it was only yesterday that she had seen him.

She remembered things like the way he always smelled of soap and fabric softener. Even the way his hair felt like silk when she ran her hands across it felt like a memory from seconds ago. And most unforgettable of all, the way his lips would move softly against hers when they kissed was burned straight into her mind.

Misaki snapped herself out of her daydreaming when her thoughts reached that point. Biting back the blush that would've engulfed her face, she instead tried to pick out the details of him that had changed over the last four years.

The physical differences weren't hard to spot at all. His face was more angular now and his hair had grown longer and was styled in the messy manner that it had been in high school (Misaki was shocked at this fact, the last time she had seen him, he had been forced to comb his hair up neatly, courtesy of the Walker family).

And his eyes…they'd changed the most. They no longer held the glint of mirth and mischievousness that they had radiated years ago and was instead replaced fatigue and wariness.

She saddened at the thought of him having to mature so quickly because of the unfair circumstances he was placed in. She remembered the countless late nights she had spent with him as she finished her assignments and him his paperwork. She could only hope he wasn't still doing that.

Once again, the deeply rooted concern she felt for him caught her off guard and a spark of irritation ignited inside of her.

She was _not_ supposed to be worrying about him. He broke her heart; she wasn't supposed to feel sorry for him.

But once again, the annoying voice at the back of her head chirped happily.

 _'You loved him. You'll never stop caring for him.'_

She told the voice to go shove it.

As Misaki debated over her conflicting thoughts, Usui found himself noting the differences in her too.

She'd changed a lot. Her hair was longer, dipping almost halfway down her back as compared to the slightly shorter crop she'd sported in high school. Her face was thinner and more mature and Usui had to bite down the wave of worry he felt as he wondered whether Misaki had been taking care of herself. She had never been known to watch out for her own health. God knows how many sleepless nights he had spent worrying about her when they were together.

As her thoughts processed, he watched with mild amusement as her eyes flickered with dozens of emotions. Shock, confusion, worry, panic, reminiscence, anger and finally acceptance. Usui was a little relieved that he could still read her so well.

But he knew something was off. It was harder to tell what she was thinking, and, unlike the past were her face would almost comically match the emotion she felt, her expression was completely blank and neutral.

It was scary to see how much four years could change a person.

Neither of them were the same people they had been in all those years ago when they were young and in love. And they both knew it all too well.

Finally, Misaki took a deep breath, trying to steel her nerves as much as possible.

Clearing her throat, she finally broke the silence, "So what brings you here?" she asked, then winced internally at how stiff she sounded.

He sighed and turned away from her, choosing instead to pay attention to the posters that hung on the walls.

"How have you been?" he asked, purposely diverting the topic as he started to walk around her room.

Misaki narrowed her eyes but nonetheless obliged his evasiveness, unwilling to start another fight so soon after seeing each other again.

"Fine. Thank you. How about you?" she asked tersely, her fists clenching slightly in frustration at her sides.

"Good, I suppose," he shrugged then brushed her table with the tip of her fingers (much like she had done minutes ago) as he stared at the poster littered walls.

A particular poster caught his attention, and he smirked. In the poster, she was dressed in a maid outfit that bore a striking resemblance to her old Maid-Latte costume. Misaki blushed involuntarily as he pointed to it with a lazy quirk of his eyebrow.

"I didn't expect you to chose this profession," he said bemusedly.

Misaki had begun to lose her patience by then, she was in no mood to make small talk with her ex, much less have him judge her profession choice.

"Why are you really here?" she demanded, tapping her foot impatiently as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm sure it isn't to make mindless chit-chat," she huffed indignantly as she stared him down.

Usui turned to face her with an unreadable expression before he sighed and ran a hand through his untamed blonde locks in mild frustration.

"Always to the point, I see," Usui mumbled then sighed and gave in, "I came because I have a request," he clarified, looking at her with piercing green eyes.

Her eyebrow quirked up, "What makes you think I would ever do you a favor?" she asked hauntingly.

He glared at her, "At least hear me out first," he grumbled and reached into his pocket.

From inside, he pulled out a small velvet box and tossed it to her. And, out of pure reflex, she caught it nimbly.

She turned the small box in her hand for awhile as she assessed it. It was nothing very outstanding, just a small jewelry box no bigger than her palm that was covered in soft black velvet.

She looked at him skeptically before looking back at the box warily. He sighed and rolled his eyes, signaling for her to open it.

Still hesitant, Misaki gingerly pried open the box, and, when she saw the contents of it, she nearly fainted from shock.

Shakily, she reached inside and pulled out the silver band that nested comfortably within its silk cushions just as Usui got down on one knee.

"Will you marry me?"


	3. Say Something

**Say Something**

 _You're the one that I love, and I'm saying goodbye._

* * *

 _"I'm sorry, Takumi," she repeated as she buried her head into her hands, fresh tears springing into her eyes, "But we hardly see each other anymore. We're drifting into two different worlds and we can't anything do anything about it anymore. I don't see a point in continuing to act like nothing is going wrong when everything_ is _. We're falling apart and we should just admit it."_

 _Panic filled Usui's gut as he stared at her with wide eyes. He loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world. He couldn't just let her slip away like this._

 _"Please, Misaki," he begged, "We can fix this. We can try," he pleaded as he reached out towards her, but she flinched back._

 _"No. We can't, Usui," she said firmly and he felt his heart break even more when she referred to him by his surname, "You know we can't. We haven't spoken to each other in_ months _. We live in different_ continents _. It's just all too much."_

 _Usui froze at her words. The scary part was; he saw her point. What she said was true on all accounts. It was like they standing at different sides of a widening chasm, and it was too late for either of them to jump back, no matter how much they wanted to._

 _But he didn't want to admit it. He couldn't find it in him to admit it. He loved Misaki. And he knew she loved him._

 _"I love you," he declared, "We can find a way to make this work."_

 _She looked up at him mournfully, "You know I love you too, Takumi," she said and he breathed a sigh of relief, "But I can't keep fighting a losing battle," she whispered and Usui felt his heart break all over again._

 _He looked away as tears sprung into his eyes, "You knew what you were getting into from the start. You swore you would fight for us anyways. Now you're just going to let it all go?"_

 _He immediately regretted the harsh words that came out of his mouth, but he knew it was too late to take them back as he saw rage bubble up inside of her and she snapped._

 _"Don't you get it?" she demanded angrily as she glared at him, "I don't want this kind of relationship!" Misaki yelled, tears streaming down her face._

 _Wiping away some of the tears harshly, Misaki continued, "On those rare occasions that you_ do _visit, when I wake up to you in the morning, I don't feel that sense of elation couples do when they're in each others arms. The happiness that we're supposed to feel when we're together isn't there. All I_ _can feel is a sense of_ dread _when I see your face. And all I can ever think of is how long you'll be staying this time," she whispered._

 _Wrapping her arms around herself, she sighed, "I'm always looking for the nest goodbye and I can never be happy that way," she choked, "_ We _can never be happy that way."_

 _"Please, Misaki," Usui begged, "We can try again."_

 _Misaki just laughed bitterly at that, "No, we can't Usui. We_ have _been trying. For the the past_ four years _all we've ever done is fight hard everyday just to make our relationship work. It shouldn't have to be so difficult. Being in a relationship shouldn't be so hard."_

 _She looked up at him sadly, "You know I wanted this to work. You know I did. I love you. And I wanted us to have a future together. I thought we would have forever," she whispered as she clenched her fists to keep them from shaking._

 _Then, she shook her head to clear it, "But, enough is enough, I'm sorry," she choked._

 _They stood there, staring at each other for awhile, before Usui finally looked away again, "Fine. I won't bother you anymore Ayuzawa-san," he said stiffly as he ignored the pained look on her face, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you. Have a nice day."_

 _With that, he bowed formally before turning on his heels and leaving. When he walked out the door, he kept praying that she would call him back. Change her mind. Mend their relationship. Stop them from falling apart._

 _But nothing happened._

 _He just walked out the door._

 _And she let him._

* * *

Misaki reeled back in shock at Usui's kneeling form.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Usui?" she hissed angrily.

Her eyes darted frantically towards the door, terrified someone would walk in and misinterpret the situation. The last thing she needed was her name tagged with his splashed all over the tabloid magazines.

"Hear me out," he pleaded.

Although Misaki wasn't happy about it, she nodded anyways and he sighed in relief and stood up.

"My grandfather is trying to marry me off to some heiress named Lucille," he said bluntly.

Misaki wasn't surprised by this fact, given the history of his family line, she was just surprised it hadn't happened sooner. The Grand Duke wasn't young. And he needed Usui to continue the family line since Gerard had died years prior.

Usui shook his head, "I won't be forced into an arranged marriage. Especially with that horrible girl he's set me up with. I need someone to fake to be my fiancée. Just for a while, until I can find out a way to completely destroy the idea of an arranged marriage," he said.

Still shocked, Misaki stuttered back, "Why _me_? Can't you get another one of your exes? Or just hire some girl and pretend her to be your fiancée!"

Usui sighed, "You're the only person I've ever had a relationship with. And Grandfather won't buy me taking just any girl and claiming she's my fiancée. At least he knows we dated," he explained.

Misaki felt herself freeze. He never saw anyone after her?

But, the shock soon melted away as the memories of their bad breakup came rushing back to her.

Her gaze hardened again.

"No," she refused, "I won't do it."

"Please, Ayuzawa," he begged.

"No," she repeated coldly, "I have a career now. And an unfortunately high profiled one at that. I'm under constant scrutiny. A sudden engagement will cause too many unwanted questions and the paparazzi will try to dig into my private life…something I have been meticulously protecting."

Misaki scowled at the thought of her - and more importantly her family's - private affairs splashed across the front page for everyone to judge. qEspecially with the history of her dad running away, things weren't going to be pretty for either her or her loved ones.

And there was no way in hell she was going to allow that.

"I can protect you," Usui insisted.

Misaki scoffed at that, "I don't need or want your protection," she said coldly, "Besides, who knows how long we would have to keep the act up?" she demanded, "It could take _years_. A long-term engagement is not unheard of, but it causes questions. You may never even find a solution," she shook her head, "So no. I'm not doing it."

He opened his mouth to say something, but Misaki cut him off as she turned away stubbornly.

"Please leave," she said emotionlessly as she crossed her arms.

He snapped his mouth shut but refused to budge, instead choosing to stare her down with his piercing green eyes. Finally, she felt something inside of her snap and she glared back up at him.

"Fine!" she growled, "If you won't leave then _I_ will. Good day Usui-san," she bit harshly as she grabbed her purse and turned to leave her dressing room.

However, Usui immediately moved to block her path to the door, preventing her from escaping.

She scowled up at him angrily, her amber eyes filled with impatience and frustration at the blonde's actions.

"Let me go," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"No. I'm not letting you leave this time," he said and she flinched at the reminder.

"You owe me this Ayuzawa," he growled, "You _left_ me. You gave up on us. This is the least you could do for breaking my heart!"

At his words, Misaki flinched back as though she had been slapped. Guilt and sadness colored her features for a second, but then suddenly, her gaze hardened.

"Breaking _your_ heart?" she scoffed, "You broke _mine_ when you left for freaking _England_!" she screeched.

Usui ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "We could've been happy together!" he snapped, "Why wasn't enough for you that I would've returned?" he demanded as he grabbed her arm.

Pushing him off angrily, she yelled, "Do you have any idea how selfish that is?! To ask me to put my entire life on hold for someone who _chose_ to leave me?!" she spat, "I'm not the kind of girl that just sits around and waits for her Prince Charming! And if that's how you thought I was, then it was a good thing we ended!" she said hotly.

"That's not the kind of person I thought you were!" Usui yelled in exasperation, "I just thought you loved me enough to wait for me! I thought our love was strong enough to face separation!"

Upon hearing his words, Misaki's entire expression shut down as she regarded him with cold, unfeeling eyes, "I guess our love just wasn't as strong as we thought it was," she said icily.

Usui reeled back in hurt at her statement as his face betrayed his shock and anguish for a second before it returned back to it's stoic mask.

"Please, Misaki," he begged and he saw her stiffen at the mention of her first name from his lips, "I never asked you for anything. Just this once, _please_."

Memories of him saving her countless times when they were together flashed through her head and guilt laced her stomach.

Misaki stared at him unflinchingly for a while; her expression completely unreadable and Usui just stared back at her with pleading eyes.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she sighed.

"Okay, I'll do it," she grudgingly admitted, "But, I'm only doing this because of everything you did for me in the past. For every time you saved me. That is all I owe you for, and I never like being in other people's debts."

A grin broke out on Usui's face, "Thank you, Ayuzawa, really," he said honestly.

Misaki waved away his thanks impatiently.

"But," she interrupted, acting like he never even spoke, "My act will only for the public," she growled as she took a threatening step forward.

"And I'm warning you," she hissed as she jabbed a finger to his chest, "If you so much as _try_ to make a move on me when we're alone, I will not hesitate to tell your Grandfather that it was all a hoax and dump your sorry ass faster than you can blink," she swore.

Usui smiled grimly, "Of course, I wouldn't expect any less from you."

Satisfied, Misaki straightened up and dusted off her shirt.

"Very well then," she agreed, "Let's get this show on the road."


	4. RIP

**Hey guys! First I wanna thank you for the amazing reviews I've been receiving over the past few days, it's been really great to be able to read them. You guys have really helped motivate me to write through your reviews so thank you so much :D**

* * *

 **R.I.P.**

 _All they say is how you've changed. Everyday, I stay the same. So you can keep the necklace that I gave to you. I'll keep the shitty tattoos. I can see it from the other side the grass isn't always as green. The house has burned to ashes, I'm no longer in-between._

 _R.I.P._

 _R.I.P._

 _You and me._

* * *

"You want to leave for Britain now?" Misaki screeched as she looked at Usui in disbelief.

"You seem to be under the impression that I have no job," Misaki hissed, "I can't just drop everything and leave! My manager will have my head!"

"The sooner we get this done, the better," he argued, "I can talk to your manager. Who is she?" Usui asked.

"He," Misaki corrected immediately, "Aoi-chan is my manager."

"Aoi?" Usui blinked in disbelief.

"He volunteered to help me with the job," Misaki explained, "Since he knew quite a fair amount about the industry, I was more than happy to let him. He's also my designer," she added.

Usui flinched a little; Aoi had never really liked him since the blue haired boy had been so fond of Misaki. He still remembered the stinging phone call he had received from the teen when he got the news that Misaki and he had broken up.

It wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. Ever.

But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I'll convince him to let us leave and explain the situation," he said, trying to sound nonchalant as he held his hand out for her phone.

Raising an eyebrow, she hesitated for a while before finally giving in.

She sighed and handed him the phone, "Just don't blame me when he chews your ear off," she warned as she crossed her arms.

Usui ignored her as he dialed Aoi's number. He waited a few moments as the call tried to connect before he was greeted with a familiar grouchy tone.

 _"Hello?"_

Well, here goes nothing.

"Aoi. It's me. Usui," the blonde haired man sighed.

There was silence on Aoi's end for a good two minutes after that and Usui almost wondered if he had fainted, but his hopes were dashed as a loud screech filled his ear as Aoi exploded.

 _"You!"_

Aoi's scream was deafening and Usui had to hold it a good distance away from his ear in order to retain his hearing capabilities.

 _"What the hell are you doing with Misaki-chi's phone?! I thought I told you never to bother her again?!"_

Usui sighed and pinched his eyebrows in frustration while Misaki smirked at him smugly from the sidelines.

"Look," Usui said impatiently, "Things are complicated. I need to borrow Misaki away for a while to Britain and you need to cover for her during her absence."

 _"BRITAIN?!"_

Usui winced at his loud volume.

 _"Put Misaki-chi on the phone right now!"_

Usui obediently handed the phone to Misaki and she sighed before accepting it.

"Hello, Aoi-chan," Misaki greeted.

 _"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT NO GOOD PERVERT AGAIN?!"_

Aoi screeched so loudly from the other line that Usui could hear it even though he was standing a good distance away from Misaki.

Misaki sighed, "I'm sorry, Aoi-chan, but like Usui said; things are complicated now, I need to help Usui with something. You can meet up with me in Britain tomorrow, bring my mother and sister and I'll fill you guys in on everything," Misaki reassured.

Aoi screamed something intelligible into the phone and Misaki glared at Usui before shuffling away into a corner while she argued with Aoi.

And one very, very long debate later, Misaki finally hung up the phone.

She gave him an irritated huff.

"Let's go," she said stiffly and Usui had to resist the urge to laugh as she stomped away, cursing both him and Aoi under her breath.

* * *

And thus, after Misaki had quickly thrown some clothes and supplies into her luggage, the two of them headed off to see Usui's grandfather.

And now, as they boarded the plane, Usui watched Misaki with fascination as she easily adjusted herself to prepare for take off and sat comfortably in the private jet.

Her legs were crossed elegantly over one another and she'd settled down rather efficiently and quickly; adjusting the chair to her preferred settings and asking a shot of vodka from one of the air stewardess, causing Usui to raise an eyebrow at her.

She just stared back coolly, "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to need all the confidence I can get," she muttered as she downed the drink in one gulp.

"I'm just surprised you're so accustomed to flying. The last time we took a flight together, I had to show you how to buckle the seat belt," he chuckled as he remembered the time with a lot of blushing, smacking and teasing, "And since when did you drink?" he frowned in disapproval.

Misaki didn't look at him and instead chose to stare blankly out the window.

"You don't know me anymore," she simply said, causing an awkward tension to rise over them.

Usui sighed at her response, he kinda expected much, but it still hurt. With a sharp pang in his heart, he wondered what happened to the Ayuzawa Misaki he knew. The girl he would've given everything up for.

"You don't have to tell me that," he mumbled in reply and too begins gazing out the window.

And they spent the remainder of their flight in the same state.

* * *

"Here," Usui called out as he handed her the box, "Put this on before we reach," he commanded.

They were now sitting in the limousine that had been waiting for them after their very tense flight and on their way to the Walker Mansion.

Misaki sighed as she took out the ring, examining it curiously.

"This is actually quite pretty," Misaki mumbled more to herself that anything.

It was gorgeous really. But she wasn't going to admit that.

The band of the ring wasn't like a normal one, but rather was shaped like a tree branch, wrapping around and encircling a green gemstone that was obviously the centerpiece. Smaller gold colored crystals were embedded into the silver metal closer to the green gem, almost like a silver branch had grown over the crystals, giving it a beautiful effect.

Before she slipped it on though, something from inside the band caught her eyes and she turned it around to see what it was. Inside of the ring, words were engraved in the metal. She squinted for a while before gasping when she read them.

 _Kaichou & Her Alien_

"I was going to use that ring to propose to you before we broke up," Usui commented off handedly as he tried to seem passive.

But, Misaki saw the sadness hidden behind his emerald orbs and for some reason guilt washed over her.

However, she caught herself and steeled her nerves. She'd left him over four years ago, and never once had she felt guilty towards him. Sorry, yes. Depressed, a thousand times over. But guilty? Never.

She said nothing and just slipped on the ring and stared out the car window, her thoughts too busy buzzing around for her to actually focus on anything.

What was she doing? Was she really going to carry this out? Jeopardize everything?

Apparently so. Because, even after four years, she would still do whatever it was in her power to save him. She had tried to make excuses at first, but even if Usui hadn't called on an old debt, she still would've helped him in the end. She cared for him. She always would.

Before she realized it, they were turning into the mansion and Misaki jolted out of her thoughts.

Misaki looked over the haughty gates of the mansion and sighed when she realized they haven't changed even after all these years…even though she had.

She exhaled loudly, "Let's just get this over and done with," she grumbled as she stepped out of the car.

Usui sighed in agreement and when they alighted, he intertwined her hand with his and they ascended towards the Grand Duke's room, both of them trying very hard to ignore how much more complete they felt with the other beside them.

* * *

"You're engaged?!" the Grand Duke exploded as he glared at the couple sitting in front of them,

The said duo had their hands linked with each other under the table as they acted as couple. Usui was pleasantly surprised when Misaki had managed to keep up the act so well. The Grand Duke was scary and it was no joke when he got mad, he was just glad she could hold her own.

"Yes," Usui replied calmly, "I'm sure you remember Misaki."

"Of course I remember the wench!" Grandfather snapped and Misaki's eyes darkened, but she managed to keep a stoic face.

Usui's grip on her hand tightened as he shot his grandfather an angry look, "Please do not call my fiancée a wench," he said tersely.

The Grand Duke ignored him, "Why haven't I heard of this engagement before?" he demanded as he glared at the two of them.

Usui opened his mouth to reply but Misaki interrupted, "I'm sorry, that was my fault," she lied, "I wanted to keep our relationship private and away from the paparazzi. Takumi here was just being considerate towards me," she said as she gave Usui a warm smile.

Usui was thrown off track at that as he stared at Misaki in shock. She acted so professionally, she even filled out the little things a real couple would do. Like the way she would lean into him every so often and how she would smile and look to him for confidence when the Grand Duke got scary.

But, as he looked at her smiling face again, he wondered silently what happened to that strong-headed sixteen-year-old girl who couldn't lie to save her life.

His thoughts were broken though, when Misaki turned back to face his grandfather with a determined look. Standing up, she bowed towards the older man, completely shocking Usui and his grandfather.

"I love him," she said insistently, "And we want to get married. I'll work hard to become a proper member of this household, so please let us get married."

Nothing happened for a while; only a tense silence filled the room as Usui continued to gap at Misaki while the Grand Duke just glared angrily at the duo.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence, the Grand Duke leaned back against his chair, folding his arms across his chest.

"Fine. I will allow the marriage," he conceded.

Usui let out a breath of relief at that as Misaki straightened up and smiled widely at him. He smiled back and clasped her hand again.

But, their brief moment of victory was ruined as an evil smirk made it's way onto Usui's grandfather's face.

"But," he smirked, "You will have to get married in a week's time."

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated!**


	5. The Life That Could Have Been

**The Life That Could've Been**

 _Then I imagine if I didn't take that flight. What would my world be like? Would I be standing at the altar by her side? Would her child be mine? And I think that I've just seen…the life that could have been._

 _And, as she was walking away, I thought I saw her turn back and hesitate. Look at me as if to say; I imagined if you didn't take that flight. What would my world be like? Would you be standing at the altar by my side? What would our child look like?_

* * *

"One week?!" Misaki yelled as she gaped at the Grand Duke.

The older man just smirked in reply, "Yes. One week. After all, you were so eager to get married to my grandson, so why wait?" he replied with fake innocence.

"Of-of course," she stuttered as she tried to recover, "It's just that-"

"One week is too soon, don't you think, Grandfather? We won't be able to plan a suitable wedding in time," Usui cut in smoothly as he gently tugged the frozen Misaki into a sitting position.

"Nonsense," the Grand Duke dismissed, "The staff can plan a proper wedding within a week. You won't have to worry about a thing."

Usui looked towards the still frozen Misaki and sighed. He couldn't ask her to go through with this. He opened his mouth to call the whole thing off and tell his grandfather that it was all a hoax. However, Misaki spoke before he could even get a word out.

"Very well then," she agreed, a fierce glint in her eyes he hadn't seen since they were young and fighting for their love

"Do you really think pushing forward our wedding date is going to scare me off?" she demanded coldly, "As I said, I _love_ him. And I'm not backing down because you throw a little turmoil in our direction!" she snorted.

Glaring him down, she continued, "We have faced far worse and if there's one thing I learned from this is that I will never abandon him like what you did! I will stay by his side forever!" she swore, not once breaking eye contact with the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke didn't say anything to Misaki for a while, he just stared, slightly shocked by her proclamation. Misaki's expression remained hard as she stared him down.

It seemed like eons later when he finally unfroze. Then, the Grand Duke did something that surprised them both; he started chuckling.

"That's good then," he smiled, but it was just the cold movement of muscles, with no warmth to it at all, "You may do my grandson some good after all. You are both dismissed," he continued offhandedly.

Shocked at the sudden dismissal, Misaki and Usui dazedly got up and left the room, neither of them really realizing that their hands were still intertwined with each other as they walked out back to the car.

It was only when they got into the car and they tried to go their separate ways towards the passenger and driver seats that they realized they were still holding hands. Misaki immediately let go like she had been burned as she wrapped her arm around herself and hugged herself self-consciously.

Usui didn't say anything but instead just opened the door for her and she slid in with a mumbled 'thanks'.

It was only when they had driven a safe distance away from the mansion that either of them spoke.

"I'm sorry," they blurted out at the same time.

The duo stared at each other in shock for a while before they smiled at each other.

"What on earth are you sorry for?" Usui asked with a puzzled frown, "You did your part perfectly, above and beyond call of duty in fact. My grandfather completely bought it. If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry, the situation just got a whole lot worse and I'll completely understand if you want to back out now," he said honestly.

She shook her head, "I made a promise to you. And I intend to keep to my word this time," she mumbled, "I wanted to apologize though, I just charged straight ahead without thinking about whether or not you would be okay with the situation," she sighed.

"It's fine," he reassured, "It was quick thinking on your part. Thank you."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw her blush at the thanks and he bit back a smile. She had changed…but underneath it all, she was still the same Ayuzawa Misaki he would always love.

"So," he said, "How do you want to go about with the wedding?"

She sighed, "We'll find some way around it, I don't think either of us want to be legally bounded to each other."

"I wouldn't mind if that meant I could do _this_ and _that_ with Misaki," Usui teased.

Misaki blushed to the roots of her hair and glared at him, "The only reason I'm not hitting you right now is because you are driving," she seethed as she sulked in her chair.

Usui chuckled and smiled at her, enjoying the feeling of bantering with her again. A strange sense of melancholy filled his stomach and he found himself wondering…would this have been their future if they had been together? Would she have stood up to his grandfather in that way to defend their relationship?

Usui smiled, if anything, she would've been fiercer.

He got lost in a fantasy for awhile, thinking about the life they could've had, all the memories that will never happen and all the dreams that were dashed. If he had never gone away to Britain, could he have had this? Could he have had _her_?

He was brought out of his daydreams, however, when Misaki interrupted the silence.

"Where are we going to say until the wedding day?" she asked, "I'm _not_ going to stay at that creepy Walker Mansion-slash-Castle. We'd be constantly watched and monitored. One slip up could cost us everything," Misaki reasoned with a worried frown.

Usui laughed at that, "Don't worry about that, I own a place nearby here, it has two fully furnished bedrooms that we can use."

She frowned, "Why do you own a place with _two_ bedrooms?" she asked incredulously.

"Just in case of emergencies like this," he shrugged.

She rolled her eyes, "You're weird, but I guess it's expected when you're an alien," she muttered.

He grinned back, "I'm _your_ alien," he teased.

The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized it. He was too accustomed with their usual banter and had just fallen back into routine. But, he regretted saying it, as Misaki's entire expression just blanked out and shut down as she turned away from him.

"No. You're not. Not anymore," she said bluntly.

An awkward air of silence once again took over them and Usui didn't dare speak for the rest of the ride, afraid another fight was on the way.

And so, they didn't talk to each other at all for the rest of the ride…or when they reached to the apartment.

After silently claiming separate bedrooms, the two ignored each other and went to bed, both of them falling asleep to the thought of how messed up their situation was.

* * *

The next day, Usui was awakened by the sound of fists pounding against the apartment door.

The blonde haired male groaned at the sound and stumbled towards the door, his hair was still unruly mess and he was clad in nothing but his sleeping shorts. However, he was too tired to care about his appearance as he opened the door.

But, as the door swung open, he really wished he had cleaned up first. Because, standing in front of him was none other than Hyoudou Aoi.

"You!" the blue haired man screeched, about to launch into a huge hissy fit.

But then, he seemed to notice Usui's disheveled appearance and his eyes widened into the size of saucers.

"WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO TO MISAKI-CHI?!" Aoi screamed.

A mortified blush bloomed on Usui's face at the implication of Aoi's words as he tried (and failed) to splutter out a decent reply for him.

Thankfully, he was spared from answering properly when Misaki walked out from her room behind him.

She was dressed simply and yet beautifully with a large knitted white sweater and ripped skinny jeans. Her long black hair was pulled into a messy bun and she was busy fastening silver studs into her ears when she walked in.

How long had she been up?

"Quit screaming, Aoi-chan," Misaki chided as she strolled over, "You'll wake up the entire block."

The calmness she oozed surprised Usui. He expected her to be a spluttering, incoherent mess with the words Aoi had said but yet she was completely collected with not even the slightest sign of a blush tinting her cheeks.

"I thought we agreed to meet at the cafe?" Misaki sighed as she let him in.

Aoi ignored her statement, still red in the face, "What on earth did that pervert do to you Misaki?" he demanded as she closed the door.

Misaki pinched the bridge of her nose, "Nothing. We did absolutely nothing. Now stop being such a drama queen and sit down and wait," she said sternly.

Aoi grumbled something under his breath but complied and plopped on the couch, his arms crossed childishly over one another.

When she was satisfied with Aoi's compliance, Misaki looked over at Usui and wrinkled her nose.

"Go get dressed," she ordered, "My family will be here any minute and unless you want them to see you half naked…" she trailed off.

The previous embarrassment Usui felt disappeared as he grinned cheekily at her, "Considering how many times your family walked in on us making out in the past, I imagine that they'd be pretty used to this," he teased.

This finally caused a full-fledged blush to color Misaki's cheeks and she angrily hurled a couch cushion at him.

"Pervert!" she screamed and Usui laughed before ducking into his room.

* * *

Misaki grumbled something intelligible under her breath as she huffed and plopped on the couch next to Aoi.

"He is such a pain," she groaned and threw her head back in frustration.

Suddenly, she felt Aoi's piercing gaze on her and she turned to face him with an inquisitive glance.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked as she rubbed at her cheeks for any stains.

"Are you guys back together again?" Aoi asked bluntly as he glared at Misaki.

A dark red blush heated up her cheeks.

"No!" she yelled then stopped short and frowned, "At least not in the way you're implying," she amended.

Aoi made a noncommittal grunt as he gazed out the window, "It's almost like you guys never left each other in the first place," he whispered and Misaki froze.

She clenched her fists, balling up her sweater in her palm, "We're not the same people anymore. That life can never be ours again. It's only a what-if now," she said softly.

Aoi nodded his head, "I just…don't want you to get hurt again, Misaki," he sighed, "When you guys broke up, you were a terrible mess," he said bluntly, "It took you months to even feel _remotely_ okay again. You're my best friend. I can't watch you go through that again."

Misaki bit her lip and looked away, remembering the times Aoi had sat through with her, all the crying and incoherent sobbing. He had been there for her every step of the way. All her friends had been supportive and understanding to an amazing extent, but he was what got her back on her feet again. He slapped some sense into her (quite literally in fact) after four months of being nothing but a shell of herself.

She shook her head, "Don't worry. I have no plans to get back together with him," she promised.

Aoi looked at her gravely, "But does _he_?"

Misaki stiffened at that, but she was saved from answering Aoi as the door burst open again.

"Aoi-chan!" a young looking middle aged woman yelled, her short blue hair was pulled into a ponytail as she glared at her nephew, "Quit running off without us!" she scolded and the blue haired man rolled his eyes at his aunt.

Then, she turned to Misaki and smiled brightly, "Misaki!" she laughed as she hugged the raven-haired girl.

"Satsuki!" Misaki exclaimed happily as her ex-manager threw her arms around her, "It's good to see you again!"

"What about us?" a familiar set of voices piped up, and Misaki smiled when she saw her family trailing behind Satsuki.

Misaki grinned, "Of course. It's good to see all of you again," she humored good-naturedly.

Minako smiled and hugged her daughter happily.

"What did you call us down here for onee-chan?" Suzuna asked, her face blank.

Misaki smiled and hugged her sister, "I'm sorry to make you all come down," she apologized, "But there's something urgent we need to discuss."

Just then, Usui stepped out from the room. This time properly dressed in a shirt and pants with his hair combed neatly.

"Usui-kun?" Minako gasped, her eyes widening at the sight of her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

Usui smiled tensely, "Hello, Minako-san, Suzuna-chan, Satsuki-san," he greeted as he bowed formally towards them.

Minako smiled warmly at the blonde before stepping forward and enveloping her arms around him in a gentle hug, squeezing him lightly.

"It's nice to see you again, Usui-kun," she greeted, ignoring the shocked look on his face.

Usui's face broke out into a smile. It was short and brief, but it was real.

He hugged his ex-girlfriend's mother, "It's good to see you too, Minako-san."

"Reunions can wait for later," Aoi snapped harshly, "Tell me what's going on _now_ ," he demanded.

Misaki sighed as she gestured gestured to the couches, "You guys might want to be seated for this," she muttered and they shot her confused looks before settling into the chairs.

Misaki and Usui stood in front of them, giving each other weary glances. They had a silent argument over who would break the news and finally, Misaki sighed and looked at them.

"We're getting married," she said bluntly.

They all stared at her, completely dumbstruck for a few seconds before Aoi finally exploded.

"YOU GUYS ARE _WHAT_?!" he screeched, jumping out of his seat.

Misaki opened her mouth to explain, but Aoi didn't give her a chance as he pointed an accusing finger at Usui.

"What did he do to you Misaki-chi?" he demanded, "Is he blackmailing you?"

Usui rolled his eyes, "I'm glad to see you have such a high opinion of me," he grumbled under his breath but a look from Misaki shut him up.

Minako placed a calming hand on Aoi, gently forcing him into a sitting position.

"I think what Aoi meant to say is that we're shocked. We didn't know you two had gotten back together," Minako soothed.

Misaki sighed, "We're not getting back together," she said, biting her lip.

"Then why on earth are you _marrying_ him?!" Aoi yelled but Satsuki glared at him and he shut up.

Misaki groaned, "Usui's grandfather is trying to marry him off to someone else, I'm trying to prevent that. I owe him for everything he did for me. That's the only reason we're doing this. I promise," she pacified.

Aoi still didn't look happy, "How long will you have to stay married?" he asked.

Misaki chewed her lip, "We're not sure," she admitted grudgingly.

"Not _sure_?!" Aoi yelled.

"Aoi-chan," Misaki sighed, "We're about as happy about this arrangement as you are. We're trying to figure out a solution but until we do we have to carry on this act, and your support would really help."

Minako gently rubbed Misaki's back, "We're definitely here for you Misaki, but I want you to think this through very clearly, a divorce will be very damaging for your future chance at happiness," she said hesitantly.

Misaki snorted, "If a guy is going to be so shallow as to judge me by my past relationships, then he's not really worth my time," she said bluntly.

Minako laughed, "I expected that much from you, Misaki," she chuckled, "Well the, as long as you're sure about this, we'll be by your side though everything," she promised as Suzuna and Satsuki nodded in agreement.

Misaki smiled gratefully at them then turned to Aoi, "Aoi-chan, will you help me cover up this story?" she asked gently.

Aoi crossed his arms and huffed, "It _is_ my job as a manager," he grumbled stubbornly.

Misaki smiled, "Thank you-" she began but was cut off as Aoi held a finger up.

"But," he continued, now with an evil glint in his eyes, "I get to plan the wedding."

Misaki groaned internally at that. Aoi was a perfectionist. Him planning everything meant that Misaki would never catch a break.

But, she couldn't say no and she sighed, "Of course," she agreed reluctantly.

Aoi grinned devilishly and Misaki sighed once more before turning to Usui with a tense smile.

"Well," she sighed, "I guess all that's left is to prepare for the wedding."


	6. The Hardest Part

**Hey guys, sorry for the later update, life got in the way. Once again thanks to whoever reviewed, it really brightens up my day and helps me write :3**

* * *

 **The Hardest Part**

 _Pretend you're happy. Pretend we're fine. I guess that's easier after all this time. Talk about someone else, then, look in my eye. I know you still hold on to us inside. But we watched that butterfly fly._

* * *

Their engagement week passed by in a hectic blur and both Misaki and Usui were kept busy with the wedding plans and preparations. All the fittings, cake tastings, invitations and everything else were driving them both crazy. Aoi was working them both to the bone to make sure that the wedding was perfect.

The only good thing that came out from all of this was that the duo hardly had time to sit down and have a proper conversation. Usually a 'hello' or 'goodbye' was the most either party got.

And they were perfectly okay with keeping it like that.

They were still on shaky terms with each other and neither of them was willing to patch things up. Because that would mean laying out emotions that had been buried for the past four years. And neither of them were quite ready for that. Nor did they ever think they would be.

* * *

The dreaded day of the wedding arrived sooner than wanted and before either of them realized it; their wedding was to be held the next day.

"The priest!" Misaki screeched as she barged into their apartment, startling Usui out of his book.

With the wedding the next day, a heavy stack of bridal magazines were balanced dangerously in her arms (magazines that Aoi had obviously given her) and Usui immediately dropped the novel to go and help her but she just swatted him away angrily as she easily brought the magazines to the counter and dumped it on top.

Then, she whirled at him with the look of a startled deer.

"How could we have forgotten about the bloody priest?!" she screamed as she began to panic, wringing her hands nervously.

Usui chuckled and instinctively grasped her hands, trying to calm her down.

"Relax, Ayuzawa," he soothed, "I've already settled that," he reassured, "I hired a fake priest behind Grandfather's back so our vows can technically be voided when we end this whole thing."

Misaki calmed down after that, breathing out a sigh of relief before she realized they were holding hands again and quickly retracted hers.

Usui tried to mask the hurt he felt with a look of indifference as she bowed to him formally.

"Thank you," she muttered politely before scampering off into the room and leaving Usui alone.

Usui sighed a shook his head at her retreating figure. Running a hand through his hair in frustration, he picked up his book and sat back on the couch, trying to read to take his mind off the fact that he would be publicly married to Misaki the next day.

But, due to his distracted thoughts, the words kept floating off the pages and after awhile he finally admitted defeat and threw the book down in frustration and headed back into his room to turn in for the night.

God their situation was messed up.

* * *

Usui sighed as he stood at the altar, waiting for Misaki to make her appearance. This was definitely _not_ how he pictured his wedding with her.

 _Flash_

 _Flash_

 _Flash_

His eye twitched. For one thing, there were as many paparazzi here as there were guests, and it was ticking him off.

He and Misaki had agreed on it since they both led high profile lives (one being the heir to the Walker fortune and the other being a famous actress) and to appease Grandfather. But did they have to take a picture every five seconds? It was a sacred ceremony! Shouldn't they have _some_ respect? (Granted it was a _fake_ sacred ceremony…but they didn't know that!)

And another…he never wanted their stories to end this way. Forced to tie the knot to save his skin.

A motion brought him out of his reverie as someone waved to him at the front row. He turned to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised to find none other than Misaki's mother, Ayuzawa Minako, waving enthusiastically at him. Along side her was Aoi, openly glaring unhappily at Usui.

Misaki's whole family had come. Her mother, sister and even Shintani (who was now [unsurprisingly] her brother-in-law) were all there, sitting at the front row and grinning at Usui happily.

They knew about the arrangement the duo had and had been surprisingly understanding and helpful toward the whole situation. He had been shocked about this at first, but then he remembered what Misaki's family was like.

And he found out he'd missed them more than he'd realized.

He flashed her a quick smile before regaining his stoic face as he faced the crowd.

He hated to admit it, but Aoi planned the wedding quite splendidly, everything was running smoothly and according to plan. The venue was decorated beautifully too, gorgeous flowers lined the entire area of the Walker Castle.

Yep, that's right, the duo were getting married at the chapel by the Walker Castle.

Exactly the same place that his mother and Edward had gotten married at.

He couldn't help but feel that history was repeating itself. This would be the second time that there would be a loveless marriage being held at this chapel.

He could only hope that their stories wouldn't have the same sad ending.

Just then, he was pulled out of his thoughts as the bridal march was played and the double doors swung open to reveal none other than Misaki herself.

And for a second, Usui's heart stopped beating.

Beautiful didn't even begin to describe how Misaki looked.

Her raven hair was curled and tied into a side ponytail…much like the time when she had worn the Juliet costume during the Yumesaki Festival. Her dress was vintage styled with lace and hugged her figure nicely. It dipped in a modest V-neck and had short lace sleeves. From her waist onwards, it flowed freely in a beautiful laced skirt, so it looked like she was floating down the isle.

And her smile was radiant. Or so it would appear to people who didn't know her like he did. But Usui could see the tension and sadness in her face and he imagined it was because she felt the same as he did.

Misaki walked up to him and he offered his hand to her and they both smiled at each other, a certain sadness lingering behind each other's eyes as they approached the preacher and he begun the vows.

The words the preacher said just buzzed by and neither of them really paid attention to him, too lost in their own world.

For Usui, all he could feel was a dull throb in his heart. It wasn't as if he didn't love Misaki anymore; she would always hold a special place in his heart…but this wasn't how their story was supposed to end.

He risked a glance at her and saw the smile still plastered on her face so he mimicked her expression.

He was about to marry the love of his life in less than a few seconds…but he never felt further away from her than he did right then.

They said their vows at the right time, both faking love stuck expressions, and when it was time to kiss, he did what they discussed.

They both knew a simple peck on the lips would arouse suspicion for a couple that was suppose to be madly in love. And so, when their lips met, Usui let their kiss last for about a second before he wrapped his arms around her waist and spun them in a small circle, which resulted in cheers and catcalls from their audience.

When he broke the kiss, they smiled at each other again before he straightened her up and they walked to the dance floor, ready to begin their first dance as a 'married couple'.

As the music played, they began waltzing slowly to it.

"Good performance out there," he muttered into her ear.

She laughed as if he was telling her a joke, "You too."

Usui smiled before twirling her, "A fruit from the labor of your job I suppose?" he asked.

"Naturally," she replied with a fake grin.

"Why did you chose this job?" he asked curiously, "I thought you wanted to become a diplomat."

Even though her expression was still light, her eyes hardened. But, she seemed to detect the honest curiosity in his tone and sighed.

"When I was in college, back when we were still dating, I needed money for the tuition. The school was very generous with its scholarship but there wasn't enough money. And I sure as hell wasn't going to ask you, even if we were a couple," she snorted and Usui sighed in frustration.

"Anyways," she continued, "I saw a wanted ad for a model…and it paid really well, so I took the job. And soon, before I knew it, more and more offers came pouring in. When we broke up, I needed something to…distract myself, so I took an acting class. Then, I just fell in love with the job. I still finished college, but after that I went on to become an actor instead of a diplomat like we-I planned."

Usui hummed in acknowledgement, "That sounds like you," he said with a melancholic smile, "Defying all expectations and chasing after what you want."

Her dancing faltered for a second, "You don't know anything about me anymore," she whispered and for the nth time since they'd reunited, a heavy silence filled the air.

* * *

"Misaki-san! Look here please!"

"Takumi-san! Will you hold your wife closer please?"

"Misaki-san! Smile here please!"

"Takumi-san! Can you carry Misaki-san in your arms?"

The requests kept pouring in one after another as the cameras flashed over and over again.

Misaki and Usui obediently did as they were told as they did their best to act happy and madly in love.

When they were finally done with the pictures, a reporter came up to them.

"Would you mind answering some questions for us?" he asked, his eyes studying the duo hungrily.

Misaki tensed, she never liked reporters, they always tried to twist the truth to make it seem more dramatic than what actually happened, all just to make the front page and get famous.

But, unfortunately, she didn't really have a choice and she smiled brightly at him.

"Of course we don't!" she laughed with fake enthusiasm and Usui nodded in agreement, a heart-melting smile plastered all over his face.

The reporter eagerly ushered them to a table where they sat down side by side, their hands interlaced tightly with each other as they carefully kept their body language in check to be friendly and open.

The reporter quickly whipped out a tape recorder and placed it on the table as his cameraman set up the huge camera behind him.

"Okay," he begun, leaning forward and towards them, "The first question is simple; when did you guys meet?"

Misaki gave Usui a fake love-struck look and he returned it with a grin.

"High school," he replied with a fond smile, "I had a horrible reputation of being a cold heart breaker and she had a bad reputation of being a demon president," he teased.

"Hey!" she laughed, bumping his shoulders playfully, "I wasn't that bad!" she protested with a pout.

Usui chuckled and bumped her back, "Oh, yes you were."

The reporter smiled at them, "Did you guys fall in love right away?"

Misaki laughed at that, "Oh gods no! I hated him at first! He kept hurting all the girls in our school with his heartless rejections!"

Usui rolled his eyes, "It wasn't that bad. You were just over-protective of them. She had a rather soft spot for the girls in our school," he explained to the confused reporter.

"So how did you fall in love?" he asked.

Misaki glanced at Usui and he returned the hesitant look. Their own love life was their business; they didn't want the whole world knowing exactly how they ended up together. It was just too private and special to share. It was their personal story and it would remain that way forever.

Furthermore, neither of them was willing to open the unhealed wounds of their love.

"That," Misaki said slowly, "Is a story that is too long and too difficult to explain," she said with another fake laugh, "I highly doubt we would be able to do it justice."

Usui grinned, "Let's just say it involved a lot, a lot of hard work, especially on my part," Usui sighed dramatically, "She was one tough cookie to crack," he complained and Misaki whacked him playfully.

Usui just smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist, "But it was completely worth it," he whispered and pecked her lightly on the lips.

Misaki blushed to the roots of her hair and turned away from him embarrassedly.

"Idiot," she muttered under her breath and he chuckled.

"You guys are cute," the reporter cooed and they laughed.

After about a dozen more questions, the report finally got to the question they had been dreading the entire evening.

"Why the sudden announcement of your marriage though? You guys said you met in high school but we've never even heard of the famous actress Ayuzawa Misaki and renowned CEO of Walker Enterprise Usui Takumi as a thing. It comes as quite a shock to everyone really," he said, his murky green eyes piercing them hungrily for details.

"We've kept our relationship very, very private over the years," Misaki replied firmly, "Only our families have known about it and they have been very supportive."

A malicious gleam flittered in the reporter's eyes.

"But, according to my sources, it's said that you dated you co-star, Nakamura Tadashi, from one of the movies you did about two years back. You two were in a pretty stable and loving relationship for a year until it inexplicably ended. What do you have to say for that?" he asked with a sly smile.

As he spoke, he took out a tablet and began showing them pictures of Misaki and an unknown young man. The mysterious stranger was obviously good-looking with caramel brown eyes that would melt you heart in a second and perfectly messy chocolate brown hair.

In the pictures, Misaki and him were always smiling and laughing, looking extremely happy and content just to be beside each other.

A picture of Misaki standing on her toes as she leaned up to kiss him flashed by and Usui clenched his jaw as he tried very hard not to reach out and snap the tablet in half.

He hadn't known Misaki had seen someone after him.

For unknown reasons, feelings of jealously and betrayal welled up in him. He knew he shouldn't have felt this way, Misaki was not his to claim and they hadn't even been together at that point in time. But still, the thought of someone else holding her, kissing her or loving her didn't sit right with him at all.

But still, he made sure to keep these emotions bottled away, he didn't want the reporter to have any leverage to write something even remotely bad about their relationship.

By his side, he felt Misaki stiffen as her eyes widen in horror at the pictures. Her body trembled slightly and although her face remained blank, her eyes was a poor mask of pain.

Usui immediately tried to shift in front of Misaki and block her from the view of the camera as much as possible.

Millions of questions about who the man was raced through his mind but pushed them aside. He had to deal with the situation at hand first.

"For a relationship to work, it takes a lot of hard work, and naturally, couples fight sometimes," Usui began carefully, "During our fourth year together, back when we were both twenty, Misaki and I had a fight," he clasped her hands firmly at this, trying to jerk her out of her frozen state, hopefully to the reporter it would look like a gesture for encouragement or reassurance.

"We broke up for a short period of time and saw different people," he continued smoothly, "But eventually, I couldn't take the fact that I had to watch her fall in love with someone else and I came back, begging her to give me a second chance," he gave her a fake loving smile and despite her shocked state, she managed to return it timidly, "And the rest is history," he concluded with a grin.

Technically, most of what he said was true. They _did_ have a fight when they were twenty; the only lie was that they had never repaired their relationship after that. Years worth of love still lay crumbled at their feet.

The reporter looked at them suspiciously, but couldn't find any holes in Usui's lies.

Finally, the man sighed in disappointment stood up, smiling begrudgingly at the couple.

"Well, I should be going now, I don't want to intrude on you guys any longer than I already have," he said with a fake smile, "Congratulations once again, Mr and Mrs Walker," he said saccharinely and walked off with his cameraman in tow.

When Usui was finally sure that the reporter was out of ear shot, he turned to Misaki and leaned in, pretending to kiss her on the cheek as he faked another laugh.

"Ayuzawa," he muttered into her ear, "Get a grip. I need you here now," he said firmly.

Misaki snapped out of her daze and nodded at him, plastering a smile on her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked and she shook her head firmly.

The smile was still on her face but her eyes flashed dangerously at him and he nodded, respecting her decision.

He gave her a fake smile and tried to lighten the atmosphere a little bit in hopes of distracting her.

"Well then, let's head off for the night, shall we?"


	7. What If?

**What If**

 _What if I had never let you go? Would you be the man I used to know? What if I had never walked away? Cause I still love you more than words can say. If I stayed, if you tried. If we could only turn back time. But I guess, we'll never know._

* * *

"Do we really have to go?" Misaki sighed as she came out from the shower.

Her hair was still dripping wet and sticking to her face, but the raven-haired girl didn't seem to care as she threw the towel into the laundry basket.

Usui smiled wryly, "Unfortunately. It would be suspicious if a couple doesn't go on a honeymoon after their wedding," he reasoned, "Besides, you can think of it as a three week long holiday," he pacified.

Misaki sighed and plopped on the bed, obviously drained from the day's events.

"Having a fancy wedding, staying in a bridal suite, going on a honeymoon," she groaned, "God this is such a pain," she grumbled as she rolled over so that she was face down on the pillow, "Not to mention I'll have a lot of work to catch up with when we come back," she sighed, "Aoi-chan's so gonna grill me as payback," she moaned.

Yep, you guessed right. The duo were now in their very own honeymoon suite. The wedding had been over a few hours ago and they had just settled into the room. They had managed to book a room with two beds without Grandfather finding out so they didn't have to deal with the debate of who gets the floor and who gets the bed.

Usui too sighed as he sat down next to her, "Sorry about all of the hassle," he mumbled, running a hair through his hair.

She shook her head, "Don't worry about it," she muttered, "I knew what I was signing up for, and I'm in it for the long haul," she promised.

Then, to lighten the mood a little, she smiled, "So, where are we going?"

Usui smirked in reply, "It's a surprise," he winked.

Misaki glared at him, "And you know I just _love_ those," she retorted sarcastically.

He just grinned.

"Whatever," she sighed, "I'm going to sleep now, goodnight," she grumbled before pulling the covers over her head.

Usui poked her curled up form, "You shouldn't sleep with wet hair, Ayuzawa," he said in a singsong voice, "You'll catch a cold."

She just mumbled an intelligible reply and after a few minutes of waiting, Usui realized she had fallen asleep.

Chuckling to himself, Usui shook his head before softly padding towards the bathroom and retrieving a dry towel.

Then, ever so gently, he began drying her wet locks, carefully working around her sleeping form so he wouldn't wake her. He did it with a certain familiarity, already far too used to this scene from her college days where she would crash after a long day with soaking wet hair and Usui couldn't bear to wake her up so he always dried it for her.

When he was done, he smiled down at her sleeping form before pressing a sweet and chaste kiss to her forehead.

"Goodnight to you too," he sad softly as he laid on his own bed and let exhaustion overcome him.

* * *

"Usui. Usui. Usui," Misaki called as she shook his sleeping form.

Her blonde haired companion just groaned, rolled over, pulled the blankets over his head and went back to sleep.

The raven-haired girl huffed and crossed her arms in frustration, glaring at the sleeping man. She poked him again but Usui just grunted and curled up more, tightening the blankets around him.

Misaki growled slightly in irritation at her companion. She had been trying to get him up for the past twenty minutes but the idiot was still refusing to rise from his slumber.

She sighed, more than a little peeved at the situation at hand.

But, it wasn't as if this sight was unfamiliar to her in any way. A melancholic smile edged around her features as she recalled all the times she had to drag him out of bed in the morning to go to work. He was also significantly more stubborn during the days he had to fly back to Britain and leave her for longer periods of time.

Misaki groaned, "You would think after four years he would've kicked this stupid habit," she muttered to herself as she frowned at his curled up figure.

Sighing, she kneeled beside him, poking him some more.

"Oi, Usui," she called out in a singsong voice as she nudged him, "We're going to miss our plane if you don't get up soon," she warned.

Usui groaned and rolled away from her, "Five more minutes, Misa-chan," he muttered into the pillow.

Misaki stiffened at the nickname he called her. She hadn't heard it from him in over four years but it still did the same thing to her heart that it used to all those years ago. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she blushed heavily but let it slide; he was probably still half asleep.

"You said that five minutes ago, Usui," she sighed as she stood up and leaned over him, shaking him some more in an attempt to get him up, "Come on," she urged as she poked him lightly on the cheeks, "Wake up or I'll pour water on you," she threatened.

Usui just groaned and pulled the covers higher over his head.

Finally, Misaki had enough as she stood up with a loud huff and stalked over to the bathroom. She grabbed the glass cup the hotel room had to hold their toothbrushes and filled it with cold water.

Then, she marched over to Usui, yanked his covers back…and promptly dumped the cup of cold water on his face.

"What the-" Usui sputtered as he shot up from his sleeping position.

Poor Usui was drenched, his blonde hair sticking to his face due to the cold water and his eyes were dazed after being rudely woken up.

Misaki, on the hand, was standing over him, her arms crossed stubbornly with a victorious smirk on her face as she glared down at the shocked blonde haired man.

"What the hell, Ayuzawa," Usui groaned as he plopped back on the bed.

She just grinned evilly, "I warned you," she laughed, cocking her hip tauntingly. "Now come on, get up, we gotta go. You're the one who booked a morning flight," she reminded him.

Usui glared at her half-heartedly but sighed and got up anyways.

Stretching lightly, he faced her with a cheeky grin, "What happened to kissing me to wake me up?" he teased.

Misaki blushed to the roots of her hair and whacked him hard on the head.

"J-JUST GO AND CHANGE YOU BLOODY PERVERT!" she screamed and Usui laughed as Misaki stalked away, still spluttering indignantly.

* * *

"Did you have to book first class?" Misaki sighed as they were left alone in to their seats.

Yeah, you guessed it, the duo were in their very own first class seats…well more like suite. The place was the size of a small room with a bed at the side and a table with chairs in the middle. Usui just _had_ to book the most expensive ticket

Usui grinned wolfishly, "Yep," he chirped, his lips popping on the 'p' for extra effect.

"Spoiled brat," Misaki muttered under her breath as she settled into her seat.

Usui just ignored her as he chuckled.

"Are you still not going to tell me where we're going?" Misaki grumbled as she fastened her seatbelt on the plane.

"Nope," Usui chuckled tauntingly as he leaned back comfortably on his seat.

Misaki sighed and rubbed her head, "I give up," she groaned in defeat.

Usui chuckled and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a flight stewardess.

"Mr and Mrs Walker, what would you prefer to have for your lunch this afternoon?" she asked pleasantly as she handed them each a menu.

Both Misaki and Usui froze at the name she called them for a while, both not quite used to being referred to as a married couple.

Usui was the first to regain his composure as he graciously accepted the menu for both of them and smiled at the stewardess politely before turning to Misaki.

Usui handed Misaki the menu, "Want anything?"

Misaki scanned the menu and nodded. She opened her mouth to order her meal when Usui cut in.

Usui smirked, "Let me guess. The Japanese set?" he guessed.

Misaki blushed, "There is nothing wrong with liking my country's food," she grumbled as she crossed her arms stubbornly.

Usui chuckled and faced the stewardess, "One Japanese set and one Western set please," he requested as he returned the menu to her.

The stewardess nodded and took back the menu, "You two are a cute couple," she giggled.

They faked a laugh at that and Usui slung and arms round Misaki, kissing her on the crown of her head.

"It's just her that's cute," he said with a wink towards Misaki.

Misaki blushed and whacked him lightly on the chest.

"Flirt," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Only to you, love," Usui smirked and Misaki once again rolled her eyes.

The stewardess giggled again at their little display of affection before excuses herself to go and prepare their food.

When the duo were alone again, Misaki glared at Usui and he immediately removed his arm from around her, holding his hands up in a surrender position.

"You're acting's improved," Usui commented, "I mean, it was pretty decent before when you had to cover your secret, but now it's actually really good."

Misaki sobered at his remark, "Time changes a person," was all she said before she went quiet again, staring blankly in front of her.

Usui stopped smiling at that. Sighing, he shook his head and turned to face the window.

"Time changes everything," he muttered.

* * *

When they reached their destination (which happened to be a beautiful, private island in the middle the Pacific Ocean), the duo unpacked their luggage in silence, a tense and awkward vibe surrounding them.

They had their own private house on an uninhabited island so they didn't have to worry about keeping out false facades here, hence the blatant display of animosity between each other.

Misaki didn't say anything as she placed her clothes in the drawer, her face was blank and devoid of emotion. It was weird seeing her like this. He used to be able to tell everything she was feeling, but now, she was just a blank canvas.

Finally, Usui couldn't seem to take it anymore and snapped at her.

"What is the matter with you?" he demanded as he slammed his luggage shut.

Misaki flinched but otherwise her facial expression didn't change.

"What do you mean?" she asked cooly as she continued folding her clothes.

"You know exactly what I mean, Ayuzawa," Usui sighed, "You're cold and distant. You're not _you_ anymore!"

Misaki just calmly placed more clothes in the drawer.

"You mean I'm not the me you knew anymore," she corrected, "Have you forgotten? You've bene gone for four years, longer that that even, I'd say," she bit harshly.

Usui clenched his jaw, "I know you, Ayuzawa. I know you even now. This is not you," he growled through his teeth.

Misaki scoffed, finally dropped her blasé facade, "You don't know anything about me, Mr Walker," she said mockingly, "Maybe once upon a time you did, but not anymore."

"You think I can't tell when you're acting?" Usui demanded, "No matter what you may think, Miss Ayuzawa," he jeered, "I do know you, and I know when you're lying. True enough it's harder to tell then it was before, but you are still the Ayuzawa Misaki I knew."

"And so what?" Misaki demand coldly, "Even if I am still her so what? You're going to sweep me off my feet again? Or better yet, you think I'm going to forgive you?"

Misaki clenched her fists, "You left me for Britain over six years ago. You left me when you promised to stay," tears welled up in her eyes and she stubbornly held them at bay, "My mother was wrong," she laughed harshly, "I picked a man that was _exactly_ like my no good father."

Usui reeled back in hurt at that and he looked away.

"You said you understood my reason for leaving. You said you supported it," he mumbled.

Misaki sighed, "I did. But then it got to much. You went uncontactable for weeks and sometimes even months at a time. As your girlfriend at that time, how was I suppose to react to that? I couldn't take it anymore."

She shook her head, "At first, I was planning to fly down there once again and slap some sense into you. But then I realized that that just wasn't going to work. We've been going round and round in the same pattern over and over again. I couldn't take it anymore. It had to end."

"And so it did," Usui said bitterly.

"And so it did," Misaki echoed in a cold manner.

"Why can't we just put this behind us?" Usui begged.

"You left six years ago. You can't just walk back into my life and expect everything to be alright!" Misaki yelled.

They just glared at each other for a while after that, amber clashing with emerald as neither of party were really willing to back down.

Finally, Usui sighed and looked away.

"Yeah, I guess I can't expect that at all," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair distressfully.

Then, Misaki too looked away as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I-I need some air," she stuttered out and marched out of the door, leaving Usui standing alone in the room, the deafening sound of silence echoing around him.

* * *

 **Reviews are always welcome ^_^**


	8. Begin Again

**Once again thank you guys for all your wonderful** **reviews and heart warming support :D, I really couldn't ask for more ^^**

* * *

 **Begin Again**

 _I've been spending the last eight months, thinking all life ever does is break and burn and end, but on a Wednesday, in a café, I watched it begin again._

* * *

Three days.

That's how long they spent ignoring each other. Three long and torturous days.

It was almost childish really, the way they avoided each other. When one of them saw the other about to enter the room, they would immediately exit without another word. Their nights were spent on separate beds in separate rooms, both of them staring at the ceiling unblinkingly.

Even though they pretended they didn't see each other, they were acutely aware of each other's presence throughout the day. It was like their senses were on high alert every time they were together. They noticed ridiculous things about each other, like the other parties breathing patterns. And it was driving them both nuts to say the least.

It wasn't as if the silence was something foreign to them. Back when they were still together as a couple, it was only natural that they had gone through fights and cold periods. The longest fight they ever had…well technically the longest fight they ever had lasted four years…but when they were still together, they spent an entire month ignoring each other after a huge argument involving Misaki's health and safety. Until, surprisingly, Misaki was the one who apologized.

This time, however, it was Usui who took the first step.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out one morning as he was about to have breakfast.

Misaki (who had just been leaving the dining room after seeing him enter) froze at that, her form stiffened and she straightened up as her fists clenched at her sides, like she was getting ready for a fist fight. Her whole stance was rigid and unyielding.

She didn't turn to face him, nor did she reply and Usui took that as a sign to continue.

"You're right," he admitted, "I should've worked harder to contact you and be with you when I went away. I shouldn't have just abandoned you. I'm really sorry about that. And I know that an apology isn't enough, but I just wanted you to know that I truly am sorry," Usui apologized, "And I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Misaki didn't say anything for a while and a tense and awkward silence filled the room for a couple of minutes. Finally, she sighed and turned around to face him, a red blush covering her face.

"It's okay, I should've been more patient too," she grudgingly admitted, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment, "I guess we're both at fault here."

Usui smiled, "A truce then?" he proposed, holding out his hand, "We're going to be stuck together for a while, so we might as well be friends," he pointed out.

Misaki was stunned at his suggestion for a while. There was a time that they were strangers, then rivals, and finally lovers, but they had never really just been nothing but friends. There were awkward stages where it was a cross in between friends and lovers, but she doesn't remember a time where she truly could call him nothing but a friend.

And it sounded like a nice prospect.

Giggling, Misaki accepted his hand and shook it firmly, the blush still evident on her face, though it had lightened considerably.

"You really are a weird outer space alien, you know that right?" she laughed.

Usui seemed shock at her sudden change in attitude but a smile made its way onto his face upon seeing her laugh.

He gripped her hand tighter, "I have to live up to my name every once in a while, don't I?" he joked and Misaki laughed even more.

* * *

After their make up, the duo got along pretty well. Their new friendship was awkward at first but after a while they got used to it and they enjoyed it quite thoroughly actually. They had missed each other than they cared to admit and since neither were willing to pursue a relationship once again, they were content to just be by each other's side.

It was a strange and yet oddly exhilarating and liberating feeling.

"OI USUI HURRY UP OR WE'RE GOING TO MISS IT!" Misaki yelled from the top of the hill as she glared down at Usui who was trailing slowly behind, purposely dragging his feet behind him.

The said blonde haired man sighed irritably, "Yes, yes, Pres, I'm coming," he muttered, suppressing a yawn as he did so, "Though I don't see why were have to get up so early just to hike and see the sunrise, it's not as if we don't have those back home," he grumbled under his breath as he trudged unwillingly behind her.

Yep, you guessed it right. The duo were currently taking a hike around the island at Misaki's insistence on finding the perfect spot for viewing the sunrise. Needless to say Usui was more than a little disgruntled about having his sleep schedule so rudely disturbed.

Even though he didn't mean for her to, Misaki heard his comment and glared at him angrily.

"The view will definitely be different!" she insisted, "And besides, I told you that you could just stay at the house and rest," she pointed out huffily, "You didn't have to follow me!"

Usui rolled his eyes, "And let you roam around the island by yourself?" he scoffed, "Yeah, I don't think so. Who knows what kind of trouble you'll be getting yourself into with that reckless attitude of yours," he smirked.

Misaki turned around to shoot an angry retort at him but miscalculated her step and instead of placing her foot on flat ground like she hoped, she accidentally stepped on a root. Thrown off balance at the sudden change in footing, the raven haired girl tripped and fell backwards.

Misaki squeezed her eyes shut as she braced herself for the impact but the ground never came as she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, supporting her and preventing her from falling.

Her eyes fluttered open and two deep pools of emerald full of worry bore into her, causing her to blush deeply.

When he was sure she was alright, Usui sighed and steadied her, hoisting her up into a stable standing position before letting go.

"This is exactly what I meant," he grumbled, "Who knows what's going to happen to you if I leave you alone."

Misaki blushed in embarrassment after being in such close contact with him again but refused to give in and huffed indignantly as she turned around and continued marching up along the path desperately trying to shield her red face from his gaze.

"Whatever, Idiot Usui!" she hmphed.

Usui just chuckled and shook his head at her antics before following slowly behind her. Somethings between them would really never change. Be it as friends or lovers.

"Where are we even heading, Ayuzawa?" he asked as he yawned and stretched.

"I don't know," she deadpanned and Usui sighed.

"This is completely pointless," he groaned.

Misaki rolled her eyes, "You should try to experience new things in a while, Usui, or you'll never really be living," she smiled.

Usui was shocked at the words she said for a moment before he unfroze and chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he admitted, "I mean we're a perfect example. Our relationship was something new and it made me feel more alive than I ever thought possible," the words slipped out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying and he flinched, expecting her to get angry or shut down on him again.

Instead, she just smiled brightly at him, though there was a tinge of melancholy to it, "Exactly," she agreed before continuing her hike.

Usui stared after her for a while before he smiled and shook his head and chased after her. There really was never going to be a moment he wasn't going to be caught off guard with her.

Finally, _finally_ , after another twenty minutes of trekking in the dark, Misaki finally stopped as she scanned the area around them.

"This is perfect," she smiled happily as she looked down below them.

Miles and miles of greenery stretched before them as trees blanketed the grounds. They were at the highest point on the island and could practically see the whole place from up here. Even the little cottage where they were staying at was visible from the height.

"Are we finally done?" Usui groaned in relief as he sat down on a rock.

"Tired already?" Misaki teased, "And here I thought your stamina was better than mine."

"Not when you wake me up at four in the morning," he grinned.

Misaki smiled before sitting down next to him, "It'll be worth it," she promised as she gazed at the horizon with a smile.

"Whatever you say, Ayuzawa," he humored before turning to face the sky himself.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while after that, both of them just staring at the skyline and waiting.

Then, it finally began.

The first few rays of sunlight began peaking out of the horizon and brought light to the island. The warm glow started to fill out into the trees, basking it in a beautiful golden hue. The light reached out and touched every shadowy corner of the island, enveloping them in its brilliance. The animals started to wake up and the melodic tune of the birds chirping filled the air, accompanied by the rustling of leaves as the animals moved about.

It was almost magical.

"Much better than what you expected, huh?" Misaki whispered, her face peaceful and serene from watching the scene unfold.

Usui, however, wasn't paying attention to the sunrise and instead was staring at Misaki, a soft smile on his face as he watched her amber eyes glow with fascination as they reflected the sun's rays. She looked so calm. It was rare that she ever showed this side of her, and he loved seeing it.

"Yeah, much better," he agreed softly before turning to face the horizon, the smile still evident on his face.

It was a new sunrise, a new beginning.

* * *

 **Reviews would be awesome :D**


	9. 那些年, Those Bygone Years

**I feel like screaming. I was editing the format of the story cause I wanted to change something and this chapter accidentally got overridden by another one. i actually broke down. I can't remember the plot line for this chapter because it was written so long ago so I'm really, really sorry if it sucks. I just…can't. I not-so-lowkey wanna break something right now.**

* * *

 **那些年，Those Bygone Years**

 _好想再回到那些年的时光。回到教室座位前后，故意讨你温柔的骂。How I wish we could go back to those years, with me sitting in front of you, purposely doing something to warrant your affectionate scolding._

* * *

After their relaxing three week honeymoon, the duo finally returned back to Japan…only to encounter another problem.

"T-There's only one bed…" Misaki stuttered, her eyebrow twitching slightly as she faced the monstrosity in front of her with a gaping mouth.

The duo were standing in front of a beautiful super king sized bed with luxurious sheets and fluffy pillows. However, instead of looks of delight, Misaki's face was painted with absolute horror while Usui looked mildly amused.

"Well, I guess it makes sense, married couple do usually share a bed," Usui reasoned, "I didn't really factor this in…"

"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S WHAT MARRIED COUPLES USUALLY DO!" Misaki screeched, "I AM _NOT_ SHARING A BED WITH YOU!"

Usui sighed and pinched his nose, "Well, I suppose I could always take the couch."

Their discussion, however, was interrupted as the chime of their doorbell echoed throughout the mansion.

Both Misaki and Usui froze upon hearing it as they looked at each other in utter terror.

They were suppose to be married. And Misaki had been screaming very loudly about not wanting to share a bed with him not moments ago.

"There's no way they heard…right?" Misaki asked shakily, "I mean, the front door is so far away," she reasoned feebly.

Usui ran a hand through his hair nervously, "I'm not sure," he said honestly, "But just act a long, we can fix this," he instructed as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.

Then, he faked a loud, cheery laugh.

"What's wrong, Misa-chan? Embarrassed about sharing a bed with your husband?" he teased.

Misaki immediately caught on to his plan as she whacked him across the chest and faked a stutter.

"S-Shut up, you perverted alien!" she screamed.

Usui laughed as he pecked her on the forehead and for a moment Misaki got swept up in the scenario they were playing. It was too much like how things used to be…how things _could_ have been between them.

"But we've already shared a bed for so long now, I don't know what's the big deal," he joked, his voice dropping to a much lower and more suggestive tone.

Misaki let out on undignified squeak.

"Whatever!" she yelled, "I'm going to open the door!" she huffed as she raced towards the door.

Just as she opened the door, however, Usui did something that surprised the both of them. He came round from behind and swept her off her feet, pulling the raven haired girl into a passionate kiss.

Misaki gasped at his sudden action but was thankfully saved from having to provide a response of either kissing him back or slapping him as a low voice broke the moment.

"Am I interrupting something?" the man said with a small cough.

Misaki immediately pulled away from the kiss at the sound of that familiar voice (was it her imagination or did Usui let out a dissatisfied moan as she did so?).

"Cedric!" Misaki exclaimed in surprise as she saw her ex-boyfriend's brother's former butler standing in front of her.

Her relationship with Cedric had gotten significantly less rocky after Gerald's death. After the stoic butler had been reassigned to take care of Usui instead, he had finally begun to see Misaki for the hardworking and loyal woman she was and looked beyond her social standing. He even favored her considerably over Usui in the end.

"Master Walker. Lady Walker," Cedric greeted with a bow.

Misaki fidgeted uncomfortably at her title but thankfully Cedric didn't notice.

"What are you doing here?" she asked kindly.

"The Grand Duke sent me," Cedric replied. "He hopes that you two have had a wonderful honeymoon together and requires your presence immediately."

Usui snorted, "What does that old geezer need with us now?" he scoffed.

Cedric opened his mouth to reply but was cut off but Misaki as she slapped him across the chest.

"What do you mean 'old geezer'?!" she demanded, "He is your _elder_ , show some respect!" she chided.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned back to Cedric with a pleasant smile on her face.

"We'll be down in ten minutes, just give us time to change," she chirped before hurrying up the stairs without even waiting for her 'husband' to follow.

The two men stood there, slightly shell shocked as they stared after her.

Cedric was the first to recover as he chuckled lowly.

"She never fails to surprise us, does she?" he laughed merrily.

Usui broke out into a small smile at that.

"Don't I know it."

* * *

"You know that this is just a set up right?" Usui said immediately as they got into the car.

Misaki just ignored him as Cedric drove off.

"He's going to bait us into doing something," Usui pointed out.

Misaki blatantly looked away at him and out of the windows.

Usui sighed, about to just give up and keep quiet when an idea struck him.

"Say, Misaki, what's the color of your underwear right now?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

That managed to illicit a response out of the amber eyed girl as she screeched and whacked him on the head.

"You bloody pervert!" she yelled as she glared at him.

Usui laughed a little in triumph of getting her to react but then turned serious as he looked at her in the eyes.

"You know this is a trap, don't you?" he said.

Misaki sighed, "Yes, I know."

"Then why are you agreeing to let us go straight into the lion's den?" Usui demanded.

"Because," Misaki huffed, "It'll be easier for us to just let him have with his fun with us, and then he'll leave us more or less alone," she reasoned.

Usui sighed, she made a good point.

Before he could even say anything in retaliation, however, a girl look settled on Misaki's face.

"We're here," she said unhappily as she pointed to the tall building in front of them. Walker Enterprise.

Usui groaned slightly before taking Misaki's hand into his and squeezing lightly.

"Well, it's now or never," Misaki sighed.

"How about never?" Usui joked, earning a small smile from Misaki and a roll of her eyes as they stepped out of the car.

* * *

The halls of Walker Enterprise were by no means as grand as the Waker Mansion, but knowing that the Grand Duke was waiting for them at the end of the hallway made it as equally intimidating.

"Ah, I see the two lovebirds have finally come home!" the Grand Duke boomed as soon as Misaki and Usui stepped through the door.

Usui tensed up immediately as he instinctively grasped Misaki's hand even tighter, causing her to blush.

As the duo sat down, the Grand Duke continued to speak.

"I requested your presence here today to inform you that I'll be staying in Japan for the next month or so to oversee some business plans and investments in this branch-"

'You mean to oversee the two of us,' both Usui and Misaki simultaneously thought.

"-and also to inform you about the upcoming gala being held in honor of your marriage."

Usui's eyes immediately narrowed at that.

"A gala?" he repeated suspiciously.

Grandfather nodded his head, "Yes a gala. It's to be held in a week's time."

Usui sighed, "What is with you and short deadlines?" the blonde grumbled unhappily, "And what do we even need a gala for?"

Grandfather just smirked, "It's not every day the heir to the Walker bloodline gets married, you know?"

Usui growled slightly and looked like he was about to bark out an angry retort when Misaki cut over him.

"We understand, and are honored that you would throw such a lavish event in our honor," Misaki smoothly chimed in as she gently squeezed Usui's hand, trying to calm him down.

The Grand Duke laughed coldly, "Save the pretty lies for the public, child," he scoffed as he waved them off.

Usui and Misaki both understood the dismissal and eagerly jumped to their feet before bowing and practically sprinting back to the car and back to their house.

When they reached home, however, the problem of only having a single bed arose again and Misaki blushed profusely.

"I am not sharing a bed with you," the twenty four year old growled unhappily as she glared down her blonde haired companion.

Usui sighed lethargically, "It's not like we're going to be _doing_ anything," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

That only caused Misaki's blush to heighten even further.

"I don't care!" she fumed, "We're not getting in this bed together!"

Usui groaned, "Fine. I'll take the couch," he relented grumpily as he grabbed a pillow and slowly began to trudge downstairs.

Now, you would think, that since they basically lived in a mansion, they would have a spare bedroom with a spare bed. However, due to the house's extensive size and a rather hasty preparation due to the fact that there had only been a one week warning before the wedding, the guest bedroom was not yet ready.

In fact, most of the rooms in the house weren't ready yet and the only reason why Misaki was agreeing to stay in the mansion instead of going back to her apartment was the fact that her apartment - though plenty spacious for one person - was just a bit too small for two.

So they were stuck in the unfinished house for the time being. Though it wouldn't be too bad since renovations were due to finish in two weeks or so. It never failed to surprise Misaki how much money could actually buy. Including the speed at which a task could be done.

But nonetheless, at that point in time Usui was subjected to sleeping on the couch.

* * *

That night, however, Misaki couldn't sleep.

She could feel the chill of the winter come spring air seeping into her bedroom and she was already under the warm covers of her blanket.

The raven haired girl bit her lip in worry over the thought of Usui shivering over the couch.

'Oh relax, Misaki,' she scolded herself, 'He's a perverted outer space alien. He's going to be fine.'

However, after another torturous half an hour of tossing and turning in bed, Misaki couldn't take it anymore as worry began to overwhelm her.

Finally, she threw off the covers and slipped on a coat before trudging down the stairs, all the while cursing Usui under her breath.

* * *

"Usui! Usui!" Misaki whispered harshly, shaking his sleeping form roughly in an attempt to wake him up.

"Hmn?" came his disgruntled reply as he opened his eyes groggily.

"You can't sleep on the couch," she said bluntly then, without any further explanation, turned to walk back into the bedroom.

But, when she realized he wasn't following, she turned back, biting down a blush as she glared at his unmoving figure, "You better come before I change my mind," she warned before stomping back into the room.

Usui was shocked awake before he chuckled and followed her into the room, instinctively settling on the left side of the bed while she took the right.

"Don't you even _think_ about trying anything funny or I swear to the gods Usui Takumi I'm kicking you back out on the couch," she hissed venomously.

Usui chuckled in reply, "I won't," he promised, "I told you before Ayuzawa, I won't actually do something that would make you hate me."

Misaki stiffened at that before forcing herself to relax as she curled up away from him.

"Good," she mumbled before burying her face in a pillow and pretending to be asleep.

Usui chuckled again and too curled up to sleep beside her.

* * *

 **Okay, I'm hoping that that wasn't just absolute shiat. I'm really, really sorry for my mess up and I hope the chapter was still decent for you guys.**


	10. All Too Well

**HEY GUYS! Earlier update because...TODAY'S MY BIRTHDAY XD haha so happy birthday to me and what not. I managed to finish this chapter really quick despite all the hecticness in my life and I'm really happy about that. Thanks for all the encouraging reviews from last chapter and I hope you guys enjoy this one.**

 **P.S. I changed the summary of this story, do let me know what you think of it!**

* * *

 **All Too Well**

 _Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it. After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own, now you mail back my things, and I walk home alone. But you keep my old scarf, from that very first week, cause it reminds you of innocence, and it smells like me. You can't get rid of it, cause you remember it, all too well._

* * *

Even before Misaki woke up, she was aware of two things; firstly, it was incredibly warm and cozy considering how cold it had been last night. Secondly, someone's arm was wrapped securely around her waist.

Her brain didn't fully register these details and groggily, the raven-haired girl opened her eyes as she tried to stretch but found she was stuck and unable to move.

It was then that she finally realized that she was facing the warm, toned chest of none other than Usui Takumi and that he had his arms wound tightly around her in a comfortable embrace.

Blushing profusely, Misaki made a move to kick him off the bed when she realized something; it wasn't just him doing to hugging, she was clinging onto him as well. Her arms were wrapped around his waist and she had been using his shoulder as a pillow. Furthermore, her legs were entangled with his as she had thrown her right leg over his.

Mortified at their positions, Misaki desperately tried to wriggle away from his grasp while trying to make sure she didn't wake him up (even god couldn't save her from the teasing that would occur after that).

She should've known it would never have worked though, he had always been a light sleeper (stubbornness was what kept him in bed even after he woke up more than anything really).

"Misaki?" he called out dazedly as his eyes fluttered half open.

Misaki could tell he was as groggy as she had been with she first woke up because his grip on her waist unconsciously tightened as he drew her even closer in.

Then, he promptly fell back asleep as he cuddled comfortably with her.

"Usui!" she hissed as she struggled to get free from his grasp, "Get up!" she demanded as she whacked him.

Usui however, just grumbled something incoherent and pulled her closer to him.

"Usui Takumi you get up right now!" she growled angrily as she poked him on the cheek.

When he still refused to wake up, she poked him some more and after a few minutes of prodding and kicking, the disgruntled blonde finally woke up.

"What is it, Misa-chan?" he grumbled unhappily, obviously still not in the right state of mind judging by the name he had called her.

"Don't 'Misa-chan' me!" she hissed, "Get off me, Usui!" she ordered.

That snapped him out of his sleepy daze as he realized the position they were in.

And cue the teasing…

He chuckled at her embarrassment.

"I didn't know you wanted to be so close to me, Misa-chan," he taunted with a suggestive wink, referring to their entangled legs, "All you had to do was ask though," he joked.

Misaki blushed an amazing shade of red at what he said and hit him hard on the head.

"Ow!" he protested with a pout but she ignored him.

"YOU-YOU BLOODY PERVERTED OUTER SPACE ALIEN!" she screeched as she continued whacking him.

Usui just laughed as he untangled them and moved away from her and her hits, enjoying her red face and spluttered comments.

Some things just never change.

* * *

Other than that incident, the week leading up to the gala was rather uneventful as the duo spent most of the time adjusting to each other's schedules.

Misaki would usually get up first to put on make up and prepare for a long day on set (Misaki's predictions about Aoi grilling her as revenge had unfortunately come true…). Then, about forty minutes later, Usui would come down to join her and he would prepare breakfast for the both of them.

The two would then bicker playfully over breakfast with Usui teasing her and Misaki constantly blushing. Finally, after, the two of them would head off for work and Usui would drop her off at set before heading off to Walker Corps himself.

Later in the evening, he would pick her up from work and they would head back home where Usui would cook dinner before they headed to the showers then slept (Usui had now permanently relocated to the bedroom).

They had more or less adjusted to each other and unknowingly grew accustomed to each other. Their three-week honeymoon had rekindled their friendship but the week had really allowed them to become comfortable with each other again.

But, it all changed on the day before the gala when Misaki was rummaging through the room, looking for something she misplaced and instead stumbling upon a bunch of boxes hidden at the back of their closet with her name labeled on them.

What on earth were her stuff doing at the back of a closet?

Misaki pursed her lips in confusion as she looked at the boxes before timidly reaching in and taking them out of the closet, piling them onto the floor below their bed. She was sure she'd unpacked all of her things already…so why were there so many unopened boxes that supposedly belonged to her?

She frowned again and debated whether or not to open the boxes before curiosity got the best of her and she sat down on the ground before gingerly prying open the nearest box.

Then, as soon as she saw the contents of the box, the raven-haired girl gasped in shock, her hands flying to her mouth as she stared at the contents with wide eyes.

They were all the things they'd ever gathered as their time together as a couple. Gifts, letter, photos, anything and everything that meant something in their relationship had been stored away neatly in these boxes.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she picked up a familiar looking scarf. The knitting of the scarf was crude but decent enough to hold it together. She fingered the blue material in a daze, not really believing what she was seeing.

This was the first scarf she'd ever knitted for him. The first present she ever gave him for Christmas.

Her breathing became labored as she struggled to keep a steady head.

"I can't believe he'd kept this…after all these years," she whispered.

Ever so carefully, she placed the scarf on her lap before she began opening more boxes and rummaging through more things. It was then she realized that the boxes didn't only contain his things…hers were inside as well.

Misaki shakily picked up a browning envelope that was at the top of one of the pile and shook out the contents, already guessing what was inside before she even saw them.

And, she was proven right as a ring and necklace dropped neatly into the palm of her hands. The cool pieces of metal felt soothing and familiar on her warm flesh. It was the necklace that they had gotten at the couple challenge back in high school and the promise ring he had given her on her birthday all those years ago.

By then, tears had begun streaming freely from her eyes as she traced the contours of jewelries and the familiarity of it sent a new wave of melancholy across her.

Guilt laced her stomach as she recalled what she'd done so many years ago.

In an attempt to get over him, Misaki had packed away anything and everything that she had that he had given her or reminded her of him and shipped it all to his address in England. She didn't actually think they'd get to him, she just assumed they would get lost in transaction, just like all her calls had.

"Misaki?" an all too familiar voice called out from behind her and she stiffened, unsure of how to face him.

The blonde hair man stood by the door as he stared at her and Misaki turned around to look at Usui with tear filled amber eyes.

"Misaki! What's wrong?" he exclaimed worriedly as he dashed over to her side, "Why are you crying? What happened-oh…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the boxes by her side.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Misaki apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snoop, it's just that they had my name on them and I just-"

"It's okay," he assured her, sighing as he loosened his tie and sat on the bed.

Misaki looked away from him in guilt, hot tears of shame flooding her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself, "I never meant for them to reach you."

"Then why did you send it?" he asked, though there was no malice in his voice, just curiosity and…hurt.

Misaki looked to her lap as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt, unable to face him.

She contemplated lying to him as a conceivable lie formed on a tongue, but she held it back. She owed him the truth. She owed him at least that much.

"I-I spent months grieving over our relationship," she sighed, "I spent _months_ thinking about the fact that you would never tease me again, that you would never smile to me again, kiss me again, or tell me that you-that you loved me again," she choked, her eyes filling up with tears as she spoke.

"I grieved you for months. And it was only because of Aoi that I was able to get back on my feet," she said with a bitter smile.

"On the night before what would've been our five year anniversary – four months after we had broken up – Aoi found me on my bed, crying and sobbing and clutching a picture of the two of us together…the one we took on the very first birthday I celebrated with you," she said, her voice quivering from the mere effort it took to speak.

Misaki quickly wiped more tears away, "He literally slapped some sense into me and made me stop crying. Then, he ordered me to get anything and everything that even remotely reminded me of you and to pack it away," she breathed.

She took a shaky breath, "It was long, it was tiring, and it was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do. Because it meant that I had to make it as if you never existed. That _we_ never happened and it was a horrifying thing to think, but it was the only way I could move on from you."

"Aoi wanted me to burn them, but I couldn't do that. Not to you or me. So I sent them away, thinking that you would never receive them," she sighed.

The tense silence that followed echoed throughout the room so loudly it was practically deafening. Misaki fidgeted uncomfortably but didn't dare to look up to see his expression.

Finally, Usui sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I couldn't bring myself to throw them away," Usui finally said, answering the question she hadn't even asked.

"I loved you a lot, Misaki. And these memories, no matter how much they hurt, were precious to me. You really changed me for the better, and it was impossible to forget you. Trying to throw all of this away would have been like trying to stop breathing and yet still live," he said with a humorless smile.

Her eyes widen in shock at his confession before she clenched her fists and looked down on her lap where she had placed the scarf.

"Why didn't you ever try to move on from me?" Misaki asked tentatively as she fingered the scarf.

It still smelled freshly washed even after all this time.

"You think I didn't try?" Usui snapped, "Of course I tried!" he yelled and Misaki flinched back.

When he saw her reaction, he immediately backed away and tried to calm himself down.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and clenched his fists, "I tried everything; blind dates, not-so-blind dates, clubs, _everything,_ " he said exasperatedly as he stood up and begun pacing the room, " _Nothing_ worked. No matter who I tried to see, I would always see you. Your smile haunted me everywhere I looked, your touch followed me no matter where I went and your kissed always lingered on my lips no matter how much I tried to forget you," he whispered brokenly.

Misaki hung her head but didn't say anything. After a while, Usui finally properly calmed down and sat back down on the bed. Sighing once again, he tried to control his emotions.

"What about you?" he said quietly, sensing her uncertainty he made sure to keep his tone gentle, "Do you still have any of our old things? Or was everything mailed back to me that day?" he asked.

He would never admit it, but had torn his heart apart when he found the boxes among his mail. It had torn him apart when he thought that she had moved on from him. That she had found someone better. Someone he would love her more than he could offer.

Having finally composed herself again, Misaki sighed, "Everything that you got was all the things I had that reminded me of you. So no, I didn't keep anything."

"Oh," Usui said, obviously disappointed.

Silence filled the room for a while before Misaki sighed.

"I couldn't keep them," Misaki continued, staring ahead with a solemn expression, "Because keeping those things would have been to painful, they held too many memories and they were a reminder of what exactly I had lost."

She looked back up for the first time since their conversation started and he was shocked by the raw sadness in her amber eyes.

"Getting over you was the hardest thing I ever had to do," she admitted, "And I never allow myself to think of you."


	11. Battleships

**Sorry this is so late! Hectic life schedule...it's been a...trying week.**

 **Anyways, the person that won that mini challenge is XoXoAnimeaddictXoXo!** **Congratulations! Thank you to the rest for participating so enthusiastically! I've already removed the announcement at the last bit of the last chapter to prevent further confusion.**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

 **Battleships**

 _Cause I don't wanna fight no more, even when the waves get rough. I don't wanna see the day we say we've had enough. And I don't wanna fight this war, bullets coming off our lips. But we stick to our guns and we love like battleships._

* * *

The silence that followed their encounter with the boxes was unbearable.

They spent the whole day ignoring each other. Except, it was no longer the childish dodging game they had played back on their fake honeymoon, but rather a quiet solemnity that neither of them were quite used to.

Misaki went about her day while he went about his. She didn't run from the room when he came in and he still slept on the same bed she did during the night. But they didn't speak. At all.

The silence was deafening but neither of them were quite willing to talk to the other yet. There were just too many painful memories from years of buried emotions that they just weren't ready to deal with. Four years may have been a long time, but it certainly wasn't long enough to heal the scars of their love.

Both of them weren't quite ready to admit that they were starting to fall for each other again…or that maybe they never stopped loving each other in the first place.

* * *

Finally, the night of the dreaded gala arrived and the duo prepared in silence. Usui had been ready for a while and was waiting for Misaki in the living room. She still had a good hour left to prepare so he didn't bother rushing her.

Before she arrived though, there was a sharp rap on the door and Usui opened it to reveal none other than Aoi standing before him.

"Aoi?" Usui said in shock, staring at the blue haired male in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

The said twenty year old just glared at Usui with disdain, "I'm Misaki-chi's manager," he hissed, "I'm here because I need to make sure that Misaki looks appropriate for all public events," he informed grumpily, "Now let me in," he all but growled.

Usui sighed and relented, opening the door wider so Aoi could enter and the blue haired male huffily stalked in.

Not long after he did, they heard Misaki call from upstairs.

"Aoi-chan, is that you?" she called out as she descended the stairs, "Sheesh, I told you to wait at the party! I'll be fine!" she grumbled and Aoi rolled his eyes at her.

Usui, on the other hand, was too busy trying to keep his mouth from falling open as his eyes widen in sight of his 'wife' descending the stairwell in a dress he thought she would never be caught dead in.

The said raven-haired girl was dressed in a short black and gold cocktail dress that hugged her figure perfectly. It showed off all her alluring curves and her smooth legs perfectly. Her dark hair was pinned up into a messy bun with ornamental gold chopsticks sticking out of it and her lips were painted with a dark red rogue.

Aoi noticed Usui's staring and snorted before grabbing Misaki by the arm.

"Come on, Misaki-chi," Aoi instructed as he pulled her towards the limo waiting for them, "We better go before Usui drills a hole into your head with his stares."

Both Misaki and Usui blushed (though the former's one was far more severe) as they followed Aoi out of the house.

They slid into the limo, Aoi in first, then Misaki and Usui, the duo careful to keep their distance from each other. However, as they settled, their hands accidentally brushed against one another before both of them pulled away as if they had been electrocuted.

These actions did not go unnoticed by Aoi as he glared at the two of them unhappily, watching as they ignored each other as much as possible.

"Are you two fighting?" he demanded bluntly and both of their eyes widen in shock.

Misaki's eyes darted to Usui's face for a second before she regained her stoic mask.

"No," she said calmly, folding her hands on her lap.

Aoi snorted unbelievingly, "Bullshit," he called out, "Something is going on between you two," he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them, "Are you back together?" he asked accusingly.

"No," came both their immediate response and Aoi smirked.

"Ah, I see," he said smugly.

"See what?" Misaki demanded as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh nothing," he said breezily, but then his tone turned serious as his expression grew dark.

Then, he leaned forward to Misaki and whispered something in her ear that Usui couldn't hear. The blonde raised his eyebrows at this but otherwise didn't comment as he watched Misaki's expression turn grave.

She opened her mouth to say something back to him but Aoi had already pulled away, the same annoying smile back on his face.

"We're here," he announced cheerily, "Oh and Misaki, there's someone who's requested to see you," he said innocently, then without further elaboration, opened the door of the limo and soon they were greeted by the blinding flashes of the camera, desperately trying to get a picture of the couple.

"Have fun, kids," he smirked then stepped out of the limo to try and tame the reporters a bit.

Usui sighed and turned to Misaki, holding out his hand and offering his best smile.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Misaki sighed but nonetheless accepted his hand and plastered the same smile on her face.

"As I'll ever be," she muttered darkly before the duo emerged from the limo together and into the blinding lights.

* * *

The first hour of the party for the two of them was spent with fake smiles plastered all over their faces as they greeting one guest after another, accepting words and tokens of congratulations from people they barely knew about their 'marriage'.

"How many more people are there?" Misaki growled to Usui, all while keeping the same pleasant smile on her face.

Usui pretended to laugh at what she said.

"Twenty six," he sighed.

Misaki wanted to groan but, just then, she spotted the Grand Duke walking towards them with a pretty blonde woman by his side.

She immediately turned to Usui as she pretended to give him a peck on the cheek.

"Your Grandfather is coming," she informed as swiftly and as discreetly as possible, "He has a women with her, but I don't know her identity, do you?" she asked.

Usui's head snapped in the direction of the duo and his eyes widen upon realization of who the mysterious woman was.

"T-That's Lucille," he stumbled.

Now, it was Misaki's turn to be shocked as she gaped at him.

"Lucille?" she gasped, "As in your ex-fiancée Lucille?" she hissed, "What is she doing here?" she demanded.

Usui just shrugged helplessly but couldn't reply as the subjects of their discussion had already neared them.

"Grandfather," Usui greeted with a formal bow as Misaki curtsied gracefully.

The Grand Duke nodded in acknowledgement to their greetings but waved it off nonetheless as a sinister smile made its way onto his face.

"Takumi, I'm sure you remember Lucille," he smiled as the said blonde curtsied politely.

"It's nice to see you again, Takumi," she said as she batted her eyelashes at him, her bright blue eyes staring up at him innocently.

A sick feeling churned in Misaki's stomach. This woman knew Usui, and quite intimately too, judging by how she addressed him by his first name and with no honorifics at all.

Misaki wasn't blind, she knew Lucille was gorgeous with soft blonde ringlets that framed her delicate heart shaped face and intense blue eyes that could capture any man's attention.

So now the only question left was if she had Usui's.

"Lucille," Usui greeted stiffly as he kissed the hand she had held out for him.

A wave of jealously swelled up in Misaki as her heart pounded painfully in her chest but she bit it down. She had no right to be jealous or get angry over this. They weren't really married. Usui could go around kissing every girl's hand for all she cared!

Usui seemed to sense Misaki's displeasure despite her convincing smile and he squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her, but she just stiffened up more and discreetly pulled her hand away from his.

Trying to keep his hurt from showing, Usui turned back to the other blonde.

"Lucille, I would like you to meet my wife, Misaki Walker," he said as he presented Misaki to her.

A dark shadow crossed the pretty blonde's features as they twisted into a sneer but it was gone so quickly that Misaki was sure she had imagined it.

"Misa," he said cautiously, "This is Lucille Hamilton," he introduced carefully, as if afraid Misaki might explode at any second.

"It's very nice to Hamilton-san," Misaki greeted pleasantly as she shook Lucille's hand.

"Likewise, Mrs Walker," Lucille smiled as she returned the shake.

The two women immediately let go of each other's hand as soon as it was socially acceptable.

Lucille then turned to Usui with a bright smile on her face.

"How have you been, Takumi?" she asked pleasantly and Misaki tried to ignore the blood roaring in her ears.

"Good, thanks," Usui said politely, "How about you?"

Suddenly, Misaki couldn't stand it anymore and she turned to face Usui with a dangerous smile.

"I'll leave you to go catch up," she said tersely as she clenched her fists, "I'm in dire need of some refreshments," she said as she forced a laugh.

"Let me go get it for you," Usui volunteered immediately but Misaki waved him off.

"Nonsense," she said breezily, though Usui could tell she was getting more and more ticked off by the second, "You should stay and talked to Lucille," she smiled before she released his hand and stalked off towards the refreshment table, leaving Usui to stare worriedly after her.

* * *

"Damn you, Usui Takumi," Misaki once again cursed under her breath as she grabbed herself a glass of champagne from the table.

She quickly took a sip out of the glass in an attempt to calm her nerves down.

To be honest, her alcohol tolerance or favor towards it hadn't changed much over the years that they had been apart and she still more or less detested the substance and would usually never be caught dead drinking it.

She had only ordered it on the plane that one time half because she wanted to piss Usui off (he had never been fond of drinkers) and half because her nerves were really shot. Now, it was more or less for the same reason.

She glared at the figures of Usui and Lucille chatting away. It wasn't just her jealously that was egging away at her, there was something Usui wasn't telling her, she could feel it in her gut.

Or maybe she was just being overly sensitive because of what Aoi said.

 _'He's falling for you all over again. And you are too.'_

Misaki shook the words out of her head. There was no way that he loved her, or that she loved him. I mean, _come on_ , her heart should've learned its lesson by now, loving Usui Takumi would bring her nothing but pain.

 _'Liar,'_ a voice in her head chanted happily, _'Loving him brought you happiness too. You felt something you never felt before with him.'_

And once again, she told the voice to go shove it.

Just then, however, a husky voice called out for her from behind, jarring her out from her mulling.

"A little over a month into the marriage and you're already cursing and swearing at your husband? Well, at least it's good to know you haven't changed," someone teased and Misaki's head immediately whipped around at the sound of the familiar voice.

Immediately, her amber eyes clashed with two warm caramel brown ones and she felt herself tense up.

"Miss me?" the man teased as he ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair nervously.

Misaki didn't know what to do for a while, and she just stared to him, completely flabbergasted.

"What-When-Why are you here?" she fumbled as she gaped at him.

The man frowned, "Didn't Aoi tell you?"

She shook her head blankly and he grumbled something under his breath.

Then, she did something that not only surprised them both but probably everyone else in the room; she threw her arms around him and drew him into a tight hug as she breathed out only a single sentence.

"I missed you, Tadashi."

* * *

 **Bwahaha, a little jealousy is always fun, is it not?**


	12. Poison & Wine

**I've had a rough day...so I'm sorry if it's not up to my usual standards. I can't say I'm happy with the ending. But if I polished it anymore you guys would never receive the chapter. Sorry guys.**

* * *

 **Poison & Wine**

 _I don't have a choice, but I still choose you. I don't love you, but I always will._

* * *

Upon seeing Misaki throw her arms around the brown haired man, Usui couldn't help but feel a surge jealously wash through him as he glared at the stranger.

Who on earth was he? And how was he so familiar with Misaki? Usui knew by experience that his man-wary ex-girlfriend wasn't one to openly give out hugs to guys. So what made him so special?

In the back of his mind, Usui registered that the man looked familiar, but he was too caught up in his emotions to place when or where he had last seen him. All he could think about in that moment was getting Misaki _off_ him.

Excusing himself from his conversation with Lucille (a conversation he didn't even want to have, mind you), he trudged across the room and towards Misaki. So caught up in his anger, he didn't even notice Lucille's expression shift from bubbly to rage as she glared at the raven haired girl who was happily chatting away with the newcomer.

"Misaki," he called out as he approached them.

The raven-haired girl's head snapped around at the sound of his voice as her eyes widen in shock that soon melted away to anger.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly as he neared them, "Don't you have someone to entertai-mph!" the end of her sentence, however, was cut short as Usui smashed his lips against hers.

The kiss was brief but passionate and he moved away quickly before she could react. When he pulled away, he saw her blushing face and smirked in delight over the knowledge he could still make her react that way.

"Would you care to join me for a dance?" he asked charmingly, completely ignoring both the glowering man beside her and her shocked face.

However, Misaki couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence as she futilely tried to splutter out a reply. After watching her gape for a while, Usui decided to just go with it and he tugged her towards the dance floor.

"What the hell was that, Usui?" Misaki hissed, trying very hard to keep the scowl off her face.

Usui ignored her question, "Who was he?" he demanded.

The question seemed to surprise her and she frowned, pursing her lips in confusion at the sudden shift in topic.

"Tadashi, he's a friend," she replied, her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at Usui's sudden interest in her brown-haired companion, "Apparently Aoi and him arranged for him to be here. He said he wanted to see me."

Usui's eyes widen as he finally put the pieces together.

During their wedding, a reporter had come up to interview them. He had mentioned Misaki dating her co-star…a man named Nakamura Tadashi.

"Your ex-boyfriend?" Usui breathed in shock.

His surprise almost made him stop dancing altogether but he managed to pull himself together in time.

Misaki looked down embarrassedly, "Our relationship was more of a publicity stunt more than anything." she mumbled, "We had always been good friends, and when the need came to promote our new movie we agreed a fake relationship was the best way to go."

Usui didn't know why, but he felt as if a huge burden had been relieved from his chest upon hearing her words. But, yet, a nagging doubt still ebbed away at his mind.

"Then why were you so shocked upon seeing his photos during our wedding?" he asked gently, not wanting to anger her.

Misaki blushed, "It started out as a publicity stunt…but it soon turned into something more," she sighed, looking anywhere but at Usui, "He fell for me…and I guess I liked him too."

The blonde, on the other hand, was trying his best to look as clam and stoic for the cameras as possible, but it was getting increasingly difficult. Upon hearing her words, it felt like his heart had been brutally ripped out of his chest and stomped on.

His grip on Misaki's waist tightened unconsciously as he danced with her.

"Why didn't you guys pursue the relationship?" he asked, willing his voice to stay steady and to not show his hurt.

Misaki bit her lip nervously and Usui could see the reluctance on her face to explain it to him.

He sighed, "I knew Lucille before we got engaged," he blurted out.

Misaki's eyes furrowed once again but otherwise didn't look too shocked over the fact and Usui took that as a sign to continue.

"We were forced on a few dates and during which I found out that she was a perfectly spoiled brat. I didn't love her or even remotely care for her…I didn't feel for her the way I felt for you. That's why I begged you to do this with me," he admitted, "I couldn't let you go."

The atmosphere was suddenly heavy with his confession and neither of them said anything for a while as they continued to waltz about.

Finally, Misaki sighed, "We didn't pursue the relationship because I realized I didn't love him. I was still hung up on you. My feelings for him couldn't even compare to a fraction of what I felt for you, so we didn't try," she whispered.

Usui felt his heart swell at what she said. She had been going through the same thing as him.

"How about us?" he murmured into her ear, "We're having the same beginning as you and Tadashi…but will out ending be different?" he asked breathlessly.

Misaki tensed up as she blushed a deep red.

"I-I don't know," she stuttered out.

"It's a simple question, Ayuzawa," he breathed, "Do you or do you not still love me?"

She breathed in sharply and recoiled backwards slightly as she stiffened up.

At that, Usui had an odd sense of déjà vu, it was too much like the Cultural Festival in Yumesaki High School where they had their first confession. Except this time, it was more direct.

"I-I," she began but stooped when someone tapped Usui's shoulder.

He turned around and saw none other than Tadashi standing there, an angry glower on his eyes that was concealed by a friendly smile.

"May I cut in?" Tadashi requested.

Usui contemplated just flat out saying no to the man. He had been so close damn it! And Tadashi just had to cut in at the worst timing. His frustration was boiling over and he wanted to lash out.

But, there were too many reporters around and he had to keep his cool. God only knows what awful things would be written in the papers if he didn't. He couldn't really care less about what they said about him, but if they said anything bad about Misaki…

Usui nodded as he returned the forced smile, "But of course," he agreed as he handed Misaki to Tadashi before striding off, ignoring how his heart constricted when he watched Tadashi take Misaki in his arms.

* * *

For the rest of the night, the duo didn't say anything to each other, only smiling and acting couple-y when the cameras were around. Even the ride back in the limo was nothing but a stretched out silence with Usui staring out one window and Misaki the other.

Not even Aoi was there to break the tense atmosphere as the boy had (conveniently) decided to take another limo home.

The silence was eating away at both their sanities and both of their heads were still whirling with dozens of conflicting emotions over the conversations they had.

Were they ready to open this up again? Were they ready to jeopardize the delicate balance of their new friendship? Were they ready to be open about the possibility of getting hurt again?

But then again, they weren't exactly prepared the first time.

Usui clenched his fists in frustration. He loved Misaki, and he always would. No matter what, she was always going to be the one, he was more than one hundred percent certain of that.

And, he knew that she loved him still, even if she was too stubborn to admit it. They both loved each other. So why were they still doing this?

He sighed inwardly, this was like high school all over again. They were back to this ridiculous chase as they both dodged their hearts, where neither of them willing to admit their feelings to each other out of fear of making it too real.

It was beyond frustrating.

The silence continued until they were preparing for bed and Usui almost considered sleeping on the couch again just to avoid the awkward tension. But, finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

Usui shook his head, this was childish. They weren't in high school anymore. He was clear about his feelings for her, there was no point in continuously going about in this circle. He had already lost her once, he wasn't going to lose her again, especially not over something so stupid as them not being able to admit that they loved each other.

Steeling his resolve, he strode up to Misaki and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind. The raven-haired girl to gasped in shock at the sudden contact and she stiffened at his touch.

"Usui, what…?" she breathed as she tried to move away, but Usui held her firm.

"I'm sorry, Misaki," he blurted out, "I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me. I'm sorry for not contacting you. I'm sorry for making you angry, for making you sad. I'm sorry for leaving you," he choked, "I swear I never wanted to…I _loved_ you," he whispered, "I _still_ love you," he confessed.

"You touched my life in ways I can't even begin to describe, you changed me for the better and helped make me who I am today. You were the first person I could ever trust. And I love you, I'm always going to love you," he breathed, hugging her tight, "So please, can we give this another shot? I don't want to lose you again," he croaked, "I _can't_ lose you again," he said desperately.

Misaki didn't say anything for a while but he could feel her heart strumming loudly in her chest and he was sure she could feel his as well.

Then, she turned around to look him in the eyes, searching for something within his expression. She seemed to find what she was looking for too, as her eyes softened and she cupped his cheek gently.

"I'm sorry too, Takumi," she apologized, blushing a little after saying his name for the first time in years.

She hadn't called him just 'Takumi' in a long while. Even when they were faking it in front of others, she avoided it as much as she could. It felt almost foreign on her tongue…but at the same time, it felt _right_.

"I'm sorry for not believing that we could've made it through. I'm sorry for not believing in us, I'm sorry for giving up so fast," she whispered, lowering her head in shame, "I know you never intended to hurt me. I know you would never do it on purpose."

Then, she lifted her head and looked him determinedly in the eyes, "I loved you too, more than I thought I was ever capable of loving someone," she said, "And I still love you. I still love you as much as I did back then," she proclaimed fiercely.

Usui laughed in relief at what she said and hugged her close, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms again.

"Well, we _are_ married, I suppose a relationship _is_ due," he teased good-naturedly as he hugged her.

Misaki rolled her eyes but nonetheless was blushing as she hugged him back, burying her red face in his chest.

After a while, he gently pulled away from the hug and look her in the eyes, scanning her for any signs of regret.

When he happily found none, he slowly leaned down and pressed his lips gently on hers. He was going to make it a chaste kiss out of fear of overwhelming her, but she had other plans.

Misaki pressed their lips more firmly together as she wrapped her arms around his neck and tousled her fingers through his hair. He smiled into the kiss as he wound his arms around her waist.

He'd missed her more than he cared to admit. Holding her like this, kissing her, hugging her, and just plain being with her felt like a dream come true.

When they pulled apart, both of their faces were flushed and they were breathing heavily, but Usui just smiled and pressed his forehead against Misaki's, soaking in her presence as much as he could.

Staying true to your first love isn't easy, lord only knows that the two of them knew this all too well. But, they had both been through enough, they had both given up the first time and lost the best thing in their lives out of fear. It wasn't going to happen again.

Because now, now they weren't afraid.

Love is letting your walls down and being open to everything it would bring; including the hurt. And they had always been too scared of the hurt to confront their feelings. But they should have known by now, it doesn't matter how much the fall might hurt, it would always be worth it in the end.

And so, they just stayed like that for a while, neither more content than they were right then and there; in each others arms.


	13. Peter Pan, 피터팬

**Hey guys I'm sorry this is so late. As you can tell from my last Author's note, I've been going through a rough patch of my life. My first love basically dumped me for the ex-girlfriend so I'm not in the best or most creative moods.**

 **I'm sorry if this sounds like pathetic excuses to you guys and I'll try to update more frequently but for now it'll be once every two weeks or something along those lines.**

 **Once again I'm really sorry, I'm working through this the best I can (who knows maybe it'll give me some creative sparks...).**

 **Also I wanted to thank all the people who left me such kind reviews of concern, it really helps, so thank you so much :)**

* * *

 **Peter Pan**

 _시계의 태엽 도는 사이？얼마나 달라졌을까。널 써내려간 마지막 한 장을 넘겼지만 더。읽어낼 용기가 안나。슬픈 글은 지워낼 거야，우리 얘긴 끝이 아닐 거야，다시 만나볼 테니까。 While the clock springs were turning, how much did you change? I turned to the last page that is written about you. But I don't have the courage to read it. I will erase those sad words. Our story is not yet over, because we will meet again._

* * *

Usui smiled as he watched Misaki's sleeping form. They had stayed up late the previous night, chatting and bantering away. Generally just making up for the lost years.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Misaki had fallen asleep as they talked, her small frame curled up against his as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber. He had joined her not long after, wrapping a protective arm around her waist.

He had woken up hours later sometime in the early afternoon, judging by the heat of the sun against his skin. Misaki still remained asleep soundly snuggled up to him, a serene smile on her face. They were lucky it was the weekend or Misaki would've killed him for making her miss work.

He didn't want to wake her - she looked far too peaceful - but it was past time for lunch, and she needed to eat.

"Misa-chan," he called out gently, shaking her slightly, "Get up, love."

Her eyes slowly fluttered open at his words and she gazed up at him blearily.

Her brain seemed to be slowly starting up at first but when she realized their close proximity, she blushed and pushed away from him…or at least she tried to. Usui had an arm wrapped tightly around her waist and wasn't about to let go any time soon.

She struggle for a while, but in the end, she gave up and snuggled up beside him.

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

Usui turned his head to look at the bedside clock.

"Two-thirty," he replied, "Time for lunch."

"Not hungry," she grumbled.

He chuckled and shook his head, kissing her on the crown of her head.

"It's not good for your health to skip a meal, Misa," he chided gently.

"Don't care," she huffed.

Grinning cheekily, to himself, Usui bent down to whisper in Misaki's ear.

"If you don't get out of bed, Misa-chan, it'll mean that I've permission to do _this_ and _that_ with you," he purred seductively as he started to move in close.

The speed Misaki scrambled out of bed after that was astonishing.

A dark red blush covered her cheeks and Usui chuckled at her expression as he pretended to pout.

"Misa-chan is no fun," he sulked and the raven-haired girl just glared at him before stomping towards the bathroom to freshen up.

When both of them were sufficiently cleaned up, they headed down to the kitchen for lunch.

"Whatdaya wanna eat Misa-chan?" Usui slurred as he suppressed a yawn.

"Anything's fine," she muttered as she shuffled over to the counter to sit down.

Usui smiled, "Omelet rice it is."

As he started preparing the meal, Misaki just stared at him, enthralled by the ease at which he worked around the kitchen. Even after years of knowing him and having him cook for her, she never got used to the sight.

It was fascinating to watch him, and Misaki couldn't pry her eyes away.

Observant as ever, Usui smiled upon noticing his girlfriend's eyes glued to him.

"Like what you see?" he teased as he smirked at her.

Misaki blushed as she immediately ripped her eyes away, turning her head to the side in a vain hope of covering her red face.

"No," she squeaked pathetically.

Usui laughed, "For a professional actress, you suck at acting," he joked, "Or is it just me that you can't act in front of?" he teased.

Misaki blushed even more as she huffed and crossed her arms childishly, muttering something about 'perverted alien' and 'space alien waves' under her breath.

Usui chuckled and shook his head as he set their meals in front of them.

As she munched grumpily over her food, Usui stared intently at her.

Then, suddenly he spoke.

"Nee, Misa-chan," he called out, "Can you call me that again?" he requested.

She groggily looked up at him as she chewed her food.

"Call you what?' she mumbled confusedly, "Perverted alien?" she teased.

Usui chuckled dryly, "Very funny, Misa," he rolled his eyes, "I meant my name."

Misaki almost choked on the mouthful of food she was eating upon hearing that. Usui watched with mild amusement as she struggled to swallow her rice before she glared up at him, her face as red as a tomato.

"W-Why?" she stuttered, "I called you that last night already!"

Usui just continued to look at her, "You only called me by my name once," he said in a low voice as he leaned over the counter and closer to her, "The rest of the night you went back to 'Usui'. And it's technically not even my name anymore," he pointed out.

Misaki squirmed uncomfortably, as she pushed away from him.

Usui smirked and leaned back before walking over towards her, kneeling down in front of her.

"Please," he said, pressing their foreheads together, "It's been a long time since I've heard you say it. I want to hear Misaki say it."

Misaki swallowed thickly.

"This is embarrassing," she breathed.

"Why? You used to call me that all the time," he murmured.

Finally, Misaki couldn't look at him anymore and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

"Misaki," he said pleadingly.

"Ta.." she fumbled, "Takumi," she whispered.

Usui smiled and kissed her gently on the lips, lacing his hands through hers as he drew in closer. Misaki kissed him back and he smiled.

"From now on, Misaki has to call me 'Takumi' or there'll be punishment," he teased lightly.

Misaki blushed heavily and opened her mouth to retort but he quickly silenced her with another kiss. He placed one of his hands firmly on her shoulder and the other was gently cupping her cheek.

After a while, he reluctantly pulled away and stood up.

"Finish up lunch, there's somewhere I want to take you to," he said as he ruffled Misaki's hair.

The honey eyed girl, however, was too stunned by the after effects of their kiss and could only stare blankly after him as he left, a dark red blush coating her cheeks as she touched the spot on her head that he had run his fingers through.

"Idiot Usui."

* * *

When she had finished when her meal and cleaned up, she slowly made her way up the stairs where she had seen Usui disappear off to.

"Usu - ah - Takumi!" she called out then corrected herself as she ascended the stairs, "Where are you?"

"Look in our room Misa-chan!" his voice replied back, sounding far too cheery for her taste.

"What's in our room?" she asked as she hesitated at the top of the stairwell.

Usui chuckled as if expecting that reply from her.

"Take a leap of faith, Misa," he sang before everything went quiet.

Misaki waited a while for a further elaboration but realized he wasn't going to give one and sighed before trudging up the stairs.

As she slowly made her way up the stairs, she registered something weird; Usui wasn't making a peep. Usually when he did these kind of things, he would be teasing her the whole way through, but he was oddly silent.

And another thing; there was a distinct floral scent wafting through the hallways. It smelled like…lilies, her favorite. And there was also the faint aroma of roses coming from their bedroom.

What on earth was he up to?

When she finally opened the room door, she was greeted by the amazing sight of rose petals strewn across the room. The dark red petals littered every corner of the room and formed a heart shape in the bed. And, in the middle of the heart was a breathtaking bouquet of lilies along with a card.

Misaki breath hitched at the scene and she immediately swerved around to try and locate Usui. But he was no where in sight.

A fluttering in the corner of the room caught her eye and she turned towards it. It was the curtain swaying with the breeze coming from the open window.

The bloody idiot had jumped down the window.

Misaki's heart stopped beating for a second as she dashed towards the window, practically throwing herself against the frame as she desperately scanned for a sign of Usui.

Instead of seeing her boyfriend, however, there was a huge paper on the ground reading 'I'm fine Misa-chan, just read the card!'.

Despite her annoyance at Usui for making her worry, Misaki felt a smile twitch at the corner mouth. He knew her too well.

Shaking her head, Misaki walked over to the bed and picked up the card, as per his request. On it was the familiar scrawl of his handwriting and Misaki smiled unconsciously as she read it.

 _Hey Misa-chan,_

 _First off, I love you so, so, so much Misa (you're blushing now, aren't you? I can practically see it)._

Misaki fumed silently, chagrined that he could make her react that way without even being present.

 _Secondly, thank you for giving us another chance, I'm not going to let you down. Meet me in the park at the bench by the ice cream truck in an hour and dress comfortably (something that's easy to take off *wink wink*). Don't be late!_

 _Love,_

 _Your Perverted Outer Space Alien_

Misaki's blush deepened even further at the inappropriate innuendo. Leave it to Usui to be a pervert even through letters.

Her eye twitched in annoyance at the thought of his smirking face but nonetheless she was grinning happily to herself. She never thought she would have this chance with him again.

Still smiling to herself, Misaki settled the card back onto the bed before heading to change.

Comfortable? What on earth did Usui mean by 'comfortable'? He wasn't exactly very specific in his instructions (and Misaki pointedly ignored the part about 'easy to take off').

She was comfortable in sweats and a t-shirt but she highly doubt that would be appropriate for a second first date.

Her mouth twitched. A second first date.

Misaki knew how lucky she was. Not many people got a second chance with their first love. But, she was nervous. Their years apart had changed her in many ways. Yes, deep down she was still the same Ayuzawa Misaki from eight years ago, and she was still the rash and strong headed girl Usui had met in the hallways of Seika.

But not everything remained the same. The first few weeks of their reunion had proved that well enough. She had changed whether she wanted to admit it or not. And so had he.

If they were going to do this again, they had to be fully committed to each other as they were now. He couldn't be looking for the sixteen year old Misaki who wasn't completely here anymore. And she couldn't be looking for the teenaged boy who would stalk and tease her just for the heck of it.

Misaki drew in a deep breath. She wanted this to work.

* * *

Misaki bit her lip in worry. She had been waiting at the park bench as requested by Usui for ten minutes now. Usui had clearly said to meet her at the park in an hour. He had even told her to be punctual. And yet, here she was, waiting for him.

Her mind started racing.

Was he hurt? Did he get caught up? Did he decide that this wasn't worth pursuing anymore?

Misaki clenched her fists at the last thought. No. Usui would never do something like that to her.

Just as she was about to lose her mind from worry, her cell phone buzzed in her hand, notifying her of a message.

Frowning, she flipped open the phone and was confused to see a notification of a message from Usui.

 _It's a hot day isn't it? Ice cream would be nice at about now. How about you get a scoop for yourself?_

 _Takumi_

Misaki frowned at his cryptic but nonetheless obliged as she stood up and talked to the nearby ice cream store.

"One green tea sorbet please," she requested as she fished out money to pay.

However, the lady at the counter merely smiled and shook her head, rejecting the money Misaki offered towards her.

"No need, miss, it's all been taken care off," she said cheerily as she handed Misaki her scoop of ice cream.

The raven haired girl looked at the server in confusion as she dumbly accepted the cone.

"And I was told to hand you this," the lady said as she handed Misaki an envelope, "Have a nice day!" she chirped as she waved Misaki off.

The amber eyed girl was too stunned to fully register what was going on and she dazedly walked back to the bench where she settled down. Warily, she looked at the envelope before flipping it to the front where she saw her name written in beautiful and familiar calligraphy.

Smiling to herself, she shook her head and licked the ice cream as she opened the envelope.

 _Enjoying your green tea ice cream Prez? I hoped I guessed it right or the poor lady will be handing the letter to a very confused girl (though I suppose you weren't exactly at your sharpest when you received the letter…)._

Misaki's eyes widen for a second in shock before she shook her head and smiled. Leave it to him and his space alien waves to get everything right.

 _Well, as you enjoy the ice cream, why don't you take a stroll down to the lake? I hear you can ride boats there. Sounds fun, doesn't it?_

 _Your Alien_

Sighing good-naturedly, the raven haired girl carefully tucked the letter back into the envelope before beginning her slow walk to the lake as she savored her cold treat.

As she walked, questions started popping in her mind.

How long exactly had Usui spent planning this date? He must have had it in mind for some time, this much effort couldn't have been easy.

Misaki felt her heart swell. He really did love her.

"Hi there, Miss, is your name Misaki Walker?"

Misaki's head snapped around at that and was startled to find herself already at the lake, her ice cream completely finished. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts she had barely noticed anything else.

In front of her stood a young man, smiling patiently at her.

She blinked, "Yes…" she replied hesitantly.

She was all too familiar of the situation where a fan would spot her and she would be greeted by an onslaught of shrieks. While she did love her loyal fans, she didn't want her day to be disturbed. She had even taken the liberty to wear an obnoxiously large pair of sunglasses and hat that covered most of her face.

The young man smiled at her, "Mr Walker had instructed me to take you down this way," he said politely as he gestured towards a nearby boat.

Misaki looked warily towards it, uncertain of whether or not to board. The man could be lying for all she knew.

Just then, her phone buzzed again and she checked to see the message.

 _It's okay to trust him, Misa._

Misaki smiled again and shook her head slightly before boarding the small row boat. The young man immediately climbed in after her and they set off towards their destination.

"May I know where we're headed?" MIsaki requested as she faced the boat man.

The young man just smiled, "I'm sorry, miss, but Mr Walker has given me strict instructions not to reveal anything," he apologized.

Misaki sighed, "I guessed as much," she mumbled under her breath, "Stupid perverted outer space alien," she grumbled.

The boat ride was surprisingly enjoyable. The breeze on the lake was refreshing and it was peaceful. The crystal clear water sparkled as sunlight glinted off it and the splashing of the water as the boat glided through was surprisingly relaxing.

In no time at all, they neared their destination as the boat slowed down and the man started to pull up at a pier of what seemed to be an uninhabited island.

Misaki frowned, "Where are we?"

The boat man merely smiled but said nothing as he escorted Misaki off the boat. Her sharp eyes didn't fail to notice a second boat already settled there, the familiar coat of her boyfriend's strewn across one of the seats.

When the man was sure Misaki was safely on the pier, he bowed before rowing off, leaving Misaki standing there with even more questions.

She sighed. Well, she might as well begin walking.

And with that, Misaki began her slow walk across the shore, enjoying the cool breeze.

She had no idea that lake was so huge. Nor that there was another island contained within it. It was amazing how much Usui could find out sometimes. And how well he read her. Even without physically seeing her he could already predict her actions. It was almost scary.

Suddenly, a strong breeze whipped around Misaki and she looked up instinctively. Her amber eyes clashed with a pair of green ones as she saw Usui standing a little distance in front of her, a telltale smirk written all over his face.

Misaki's heart stuttered for a moment. He was clad in a simple faded blue shirt and khaki pants, and yet he looked amazing. It was completely unfair.

"Did you enjoy our date, Misa-chan?" he called out as she neared him.

The raven haired girl blushed deeply.

"I'd hardly consider it a date," she responded haughtily, "You weren't even there."

By now, she was standing in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her as she smirked right back at him.

Usui faked a pout.

"I'm wounded, Misa-chan," he sighed over dramatically, "But you thought of me the entire time, didn't you?" he teased with an easy smirk.

That caused Misaki to drop her stance as a full blown blush covered her cheeks.

"Baka," she muttered under her breath.

Usui just smiled before leaning down to give her a quick peck on the cheek.

"We can save this debate for later," Usui said patronizingly to the frozen Misaki, "Right now, I wanna show you something," he said as he dragged her inside the forest.


	14. Photograph

**Photograph**

 _We keep this love in a photograph. We made these memories for ourselves, where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and times are forever frozen still._

* * *

Misaki frowned as she let Usui lead her through the thicket of plants. Though the blonde was obviously very eager to reach their destination, he was always stopping to make sure she never tripped or got hit by a branch. And she would never admit it, but it warmed her heart to no end.

"Where are you taking me _this_ time?" she teased as she followed him.

"Somewhere special," Usui grinned, "I found this place not too long after we moved in," he chirped happily as he dragged her along.

"How?" she asked in amazement, "When did you go exploring?"

Usui just smirked, "It's a secret," he teased, a little too happily for her tastes.

Misaki sighed, "You and all your secrets," she grumbled.

"It's for your own good, Misa," he said breezily.

She rolled her eyes but otherwise decided not to comment. He would only rile her up more, and the idiot would enjoy that.

Finally, after a while more of trudging through the woods, they reached their destination…a mat laid in the middle of the forest. Granted, it was a very pretty mat with a scrumptious display of food laid out on it. But, given the circumstances, it was a little underwhelming.

"You brought me all the way out here for a picnic…?" Misaki fumbled in disbelief as she stared at the set up.

It didn't escape her notice how most of the food on the mat were her favorite things to eat.

Usui just smirked as he settled down on the mat.

The sun was already setting behind him and Misaki could see the last rays of light slowly start to disappear over the horizon. Had it already gotten that late? How had time passed by so quickly?

The raven haired girl shook her head as she laughed in disbelief but nonetheless sat down beside him.

"How did you manage to pull all of this off?" she immediately questioned, "Did you have this planned before hand? Did you know that we would get back together?" she asked, bombarding him with question after question.

Usui just laughed as he pet her on the head.

"I'm an outer space alien, Misa. Anything is possible for me," he said with a wink.

She swatted his hand away and scowled at him.

"Quit giving me that generic bullshit," she complained unhappily, "Tell me the truth. Really, how did you think of and manage all of this?"

Usui grinned, "Okay, okay. I'll admit I had this date idea for a while, before we broke up I already wanted to do something like this for you. As for how I pulled it off…I _am_ the head of a major cooperation, hiring a boat and clearing an island of people isn't a difficult task for someone like me," he said smugly.

Misaki looked appalled at the idea.

"Y-You didn't spend a lot of money, did you?" she stuttered.

Usui rolled his eyes, "Misaki, I'm a multi-billionaire and you're a very successful actress, money isn't exactly an issue for either of us anymore," he pointed out.

"Doesn't mean you should go around wasting it!" she screeched.

He smiled ruefully and shook her head, "Don't you understand by now?" he sighed, "It's never a waste if it can make you smile."

Misaki immediately turned crimson upon hearing his words and looked away bashfully.

"Cheesy sap," she grumbled under her breath, crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest as she slunk away from him.

Usui shook his head, a smile evident on his face. She really was something of a completely different force.

Sensing his girlfriend's unhappiness, he attempted to cajole her with food.

"Do you wanna eat anything?" he tried to pacify.

Misaki glared at him, but sighed and complied in the end. She could never stay mad with him anyways.

"Could you pass the strawberries, please?" she requested.

He moved to hand her the bowl of strawberries, but then suddenly an idea struck him and he changed his mind.

"Okay," he said cheerily.

However, instead of handing her the entire bowl like she wanted, he picked out one and placed it between his teeth before he leaned over towards her.

The raven haired girl was too stunned to react as he placed the strawberry in her mouth, effectively pressing their lips together.

When she unfroze, Misaki immediately bolted back and pulled away from him, a dark red blush covering her face.

She nearly choked on her strawberry too as she struggled to get it down before screaming at him.

"Y-YOU!" she screeched.

"Words, Misa, words," he mocked once again and the raven haired girl smacked him hard on the chest.

"Haven't you learned your lesson from the first time you did that?!" she demanded, referring to many years ago when he had repeated a similar action, but with chocolate instead.

"Nope," Usui said carelessly, barely paying her any head (which only added fuel to her anger) as he reached around and grabbed a box of pocky.

He grinned impishly and waved the box in front of her face.

"Wanna play a game, Misa?" he taunted as he placed a stick between his teeth and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Her blush deepened at the reminder and she shoved his face away.

"Play by yourself, dumbass!" she screeched.

Usui took the stick out of his mouth and faked a pout.

"Come on, Misa," he pestered, "For old times sake?"

She just glared at him stubbornly.

"No," she denied adamantly.

Usui just continued to look at her with his stupid puppy dog eyes and she felt her resolve wilt.

Finally, after a slid minute of her glaring and his pleading look, she caved in.

"Fine!" she agreed exasperatedly and ignored how his face immediately lit up.

He picked up another stick, "Still remember the rules, Misa?" he teased as he place it in his mouth.

The raven haired girl's response surprised him as she merely grabbed his collar and pulled him closer.

"Shut up and come here," she growled as she bit on her end.

Usui was going to take it slow at first, partly to tease her and partly because he knew she was shy, but Misaki had no such reservations.

She finished her part with astonishing speed and before he could really process what was going on, her soft lips were pressing against his in a feverish kiss. She pressed their bodies together and tangled one of her hands though his hair while the other was pressed firmly against his shoulder.

Usui smirked at the sudden fire ignited in her and he took full advantage of her boldness. Finally, after a while, he relented, deciding to let her have this win.

"Not bad Misaki," he breathed as they pulled away, "You're getting better at this game."

He was greeted by her cutely chagrined face as both a scowl and blush covered her features.

He chuckled but then suddenly noticed something. It was almost completely dark around them now. It was almost time.

Upon realized that, he began to scoot closer to her, only to cause her to bristle up and move away from him. Ironic considering what they had been doing not minutes ago.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously as she edged away from him.

He just chuckled and shook his head, "Trust me a little, won't you?" he joked as he leaned over and cupped his hands over her eyes.

She stiffened at his actions but nonetheless forced herself to relax.

"Seriously, _what_ are you doing?" she grumbled exasperatedly after a minute of having him hold his hands over her eyes.

Usui laughed, "Okay Ms Impatient," he teased and Misaki felt his hands leave her eyes, "You can look now."

Misaki squinted at the sudden brightness surround her as contrast to the darkness a few seconds ago. Wait a minute. Brightness? The sun had already set, it was suppose to be dark, not light.

And yet, all around her were glowing spots of light.

"Fireflies," she breathed in awe as she realized exactly what it was that creating the light.

Usui grinned at her dazzled expression, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Misaki could only nod her head, too stunned to form coherent words.

"Remember when we were still together?" he started, "We were watching this TV program and you saw this advertisement that had people watching fireflies in it," he prompted, "And you told me you had never seen them in real life," he smiled, "So here they are."

Misaki blushed embarrassedly. She couldn't believe that he still remembered that. Well, actually she could. She didn't call him an alien for nothing.

"Thank you…Takumi," she murmured shyly.

He smiled, "No problem, Misa-chan," he winked, "Now how about a kiss as payment?" he teased.

Misaki glared at him, her face still covered in a full blown blush as she whacked him hard on the head.

"Pervert!" she screeched.

Usui just laughed and hugged her close, pulling her towards him so that she was practically sitting on his lap.

"Your pervert," he corrected happily.

Misaki rolled her eyes but leaned into his embrace.

"Whatever, alien," she huffed.

The duo sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying the silence and marveling at the beauty of the fireflies. And, when Misaki thought he wasn't looking, she snuck a glance at him. After she was satisfied his attention was glued on the fireflies, she quickly leaned closer and pecked him on the cheek before moving back and turning away from him.

Usui was shocked at the sudden contact, but when he saw his girlfriend's blushing face, he laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I love you, Misaki," he proclaimed unabashedly as he squeezed her tight.

Misaki turned even redder and buried her face in his chest, trying her best to hide her expression from him.

"I love you too...idiot alien."

* * *

A beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair sat on a black leather couch, her posture perfectly comfortable and at ease. Her legs were elegantly crossed over one another as she rested her arms on the seat rests.

Seated right next to her was a drunk middle aged man…the same man who Usui and Misaki had hired to fake their marriage. It was obvious to anyone that the man was intoxicated beyond coherent thought. And she reveled in that.

She leaned forward, casually tossing her long blonde mane over her shoulders.

"Tell me again, how you so _bravely_ broke the law to help the couple," she purred, her sharp blue eyes glinting maliciously in the dim lighting.

The man gave her a tipsy smile, "They needed someone to fake their marriage for them, and I accepted," he slurred, puffing his chest up in pride.

The mysterious woman laughed delicately, the sound tinkering like a hypnotizing lullaby that was lulling him deeper into his drunken trust.

The blonde sipped on her wine as she smirked inwardly at how drunk the supposed priest was. This was almost too easy.

"So, they are not technically married then?" she asked with an innocent bat of her eyelashes.

The fake priest took another gulp of his wine as he shook his ruddy head, "Nope," he popped, swaying slightly.

At that, her painted lips pulled into her a smile. Her plan was going perfectly. She had been devastated when she realized that her love had been taken away from her. But fate was on her side. On the _right_ side. She discovered the hole in their _perfect_ relationship easily enough.

Now, all that was left to do was rip them to pieces.

* * *

 **Bwahaha suspense!**

 **Okay, on a more serious note, I want to thank all of you guys for being so understanding. I can't say I'm okay yet, and I won't be for a long while, but I think I'm getting better. So really, thank you guys so much for all the supportive messages and wonderful reviews! I'll try and update as fast as I can!**


	15. Mine

**I have made it through a month. And I am getting better so thank you guys so much. Updates should be more frequent now.**

* * *

 **Mine**

 _You were in college working part time waiting tables, left a small town, never looked back. I was a flight risk with fear of falling. Wondering why we bothered with love if it never lasts._

 _I say can you believe it? As we're lying on the couch. The moment I can see it. Yes, yes, I can see it now. Do you remember we were sitting there by the water? You put your arm around me for the first time. You made a rebel out of a careless man's careful daughter._

 _Y_ _ou are the best thing that's ever been mine._

* * *

After their second first date, the days only seemed to get better after that. The duo were basically back to their usual selves with their colorful daily banter and snarky remarks. And although they weren't officially married, with the way that they acted might as well have been.

And, Misaki just continued to surprise Usui despite how long they knew each other. For example, when Usui was preparing lunch for the two of them one afternoon, she volunteered to help cut up the vegetables while he prepared the rest of the dishes.

Warily, he handed the raven-haired girl the knife, already mentally calculating the fastest route to the hospital and trying to recall where they kept their first-aid kit. Surprisingly though, none of those precautions were needed as Misaki was unexpectedly quite proficient in the task.

"Since when can you cook?" Usui asked in shock as he watched Misaki.

The cutting was a little uneven, but it definitely beat her skills in high school hands down. She didn't even nick herself. And the vegetables didn't disintegrate.

"The last time I saw you in the kitchen you were burning water and blowing up microwaves," he teased.

Misaki laughed, "I can't actually cook," she said embarrassedly, "I still burn water and have a lifetime ban from the kitchen when Aoi's around," she joked, "But cutting vegetables I learned how."

Usui smiled as he watched her, "How?" he asked cheerily, sneaking a piece of carrot to eat.

"It's a funny story really," she giggled, waving the knife around carelessly, "I was filming this movie where I had a scene that needed me to cut vegetables and Tadashi-" she cut herself off just in time, however, as she realized what she was about to say.

Usui frowned, "Continue."

She laughed nervously, "Oh it's nothing. Not even that funny really! Forget I said anything!"

Usui smirked darkly and placed both arms on the counter, effectively trapping her as he stared her down, "You learned how to cook from another guy?" he asked softly as he bent down to whisper in her ear, causing her to squirm in discomfort.

"No!" she yelped, but then caught Usui's look and sighed in defeat, "Well…not exactly," she mumbled timidly.

Usui sighed and removed his hands from the counter, "I'm sorry. I've no right to get jealous. We weren't together at that time," he said stiffly.

Sadness filled his green eyes and Misaki's eyes softened and just as he was about to walk away, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, kissing him lovingly on the lips.

"I love _you_ , Usui Takumi," she breathed, as they pulled away, "No one else."

Usui was dazed for a minute at her uncharacteristic behavior but nonetheless smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"I love you too," he proclaimed as he hugged her tight.

She blushed and hugged him back and they stayed like that for a while, comfortable in each others presence. Until Usui broke the serenity.

"So, how about what I was talking about?" he asked cheekily, "You love me so you should have no problem with it."

Misaki yanked herself away from him at that as she glared at him venomously.

"My answer remains the same; no," she deadpanned.

"Oh come on, Misa," he pleaded.

"Takumi, can you just please _drop it_?" Misaki demanded exasperatedly to her smirking boyfriend.

Usui just pouted, "But why not?" he whined, "I'm your husband, Misa," he complained.

Misaki glared at him, plainly unamused by his antics, "We are _not_ married," she said bluntly.

Usui faked another pout at that, "I'm wounded, Misa," he sighed.

Misaki rolled her eyes at him, "Continue being wounded then, because you're not visiting me on set!" she said firmly.

Usui gave her his best puppy dog eyes, "Why?" he begged.

Misaki blushed dark red, "Because it's embarrassing!"

Now it was Usui's turn to roll his eyes.

"It's not like I've never seen you in funny get ups either…" he pointed out, referring to all the outrageous costumes she had dressed up for Maid latte's special occasions.

Misaki's eye twitched, the blush still evident on her cheeks, "And once is more that enough."

Usui laughed, "It was definitely more than once," he joked.

MIsaki shot him an evil eye, "Then you definitely don't need another round," she said haughtily.

Usui opened his mouth to shoot something back, but - to Misaki's utter delight - was interrupted by their doorbell ringing.

"I'll go get it!" she announced chirpily before springing off towards the door.

Usui just sighed as he shook his head and trailed along slowly after her.

When Misaki opened the door though, they were both greeted with a surprise in the form of Hyoudou Aoi.

"Aoi-chan!" Misaki exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

The grumpy young adult stood in front of them in all his blue haired glory. He had a stubborn frown on his face and his arms were crossed childishly over one another as he glared up at the duo.

"I'm here as your manager," he sighed, "Mr Hamada has been requesting you to play the main role in his new movie and I wanted to discuss the scheduling with you."

"You could've just called," Misaki laughed but nonetheless let him in.

Aoi glared at her, "I did. Ten times."

Misaki blinked in shock, "I didn't get any calls," she muttered confusedly as she dug through her pocket for her phone.

But, as she fished it out, she saw why; her phone was dead.

"Oh," she giggled sheepishly, "Oops?"

Aoi just rolled his eyes.

"So, are you up for taking this new movie?" he asked, "Hamada is a very renowned director, it'll be a great publicist boost. Plus it's a lead role."

"I don't know," she said honestly, "I'll have to see the script first. I mean, I know it'll be good and everything, but I need to be interested in the script first."

Aoi nodded understandingly, "I'll get it faxed over to you by the evening," he said, already messaging away, "Get back to me by tomorrow, okay?"

Misaki nodded.

With that, Aoi made a move to leave but was stopped by Misaki before he could go out the door.

"Ah, Aoi-chan, wait a minute. I need to tell you something," Misaki stuttered, her face bright red.

Both Usui and Aoi stared at her, the former in shock and the latter in confusion.

"What?" Aoi asked huffily.

Misaki's blush deepened as her eyes darted from her 'husband' to her best friend.

"I-I need to call my mom over too," she fumbled, "I wanna tell you guys at one shot."

Aoi raised an eyebrow in suspicion but nonetheless settled into the couch.

"Fine," he said dismissively, "I'll wait."

Misaki nodded and glanced at Usui one last time before she darted out of the room to call her family over.

Usui chuckled as he leaned against the wall.

Misaki really had changed. In the past she would be so closed up about their relationship, now, she was more willing to open up. It was a nice change of pace, albeit a surprising one.

When she put down the phone, he walked up to her and dragged her to a corner where he was sure Aoi could neither see nor hear them.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously.

Misaki looked at him in alarm, "Did you not want to?" she asked nervously, "I thought you would want to."

Usui smiled comfortingly at her, "I'm happy as long as you're happy."

Misaki blushed, "Cheesy bastard," she grumbled as she crossed her arms.

Then, she sighed and looked up at him. The blush was still evident on her face and a frown marred her features but she looked determined.

"Yes, I'm sure. T-This is something important in my life. And I want them to know about it," she said.

Usui smiled lovingly at her and he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you, Misa," he said.

"For what?" she asked confusedly.

Usui laced his hands through hers, "For giving this another chance," he said as he brought her hands to his lips and kissed them.

Misaki blushed.

"When did you know you wanted to get back together?" she blurted out suddenly.

To be honest, this question had been plaguing her for a long time. Ever since they got back together really.

Usui smirked, "Since the moment we broke up," he said honestly.

Misaki frowned at him.

"You sound like a romance novel," she deadpanned.

Usui just laughed.

"Oi," Aoi's grouchy voiced cut in, "What on earth are you two whispering about over there?" he demanded.

Thankfully, Misaki was saved from stumbling out a decent response as once again she was saved by the ringing of the doorbell.

"Coming!" she squeaked out as she scampered towards her salvation.

As expected, when she opened the door it turned out to be her mother, sister, and Hinata.

"Hey," Misaki greeted as she hugged them, "Thanks for coming over guys."

Minako hugged her daughter back, "No problem, sweetie. But what's so important we had to come over now?"

Misaki blushed, "Why don't you guys come in first?" she suggested as she quickly ushered them into the living room and sat them on the couch with Aoi.

When they were all settled down, the duo were left standing over them, Misaki wringing her hands nervously as she glanced between Usui and her family.

The silence stretched on for a while as the raven haired grappled with her feelings and the blonde just smiled comfortingly at her (a gesture that did not go unnoticed by their audience).

Finally, Aoi couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Just spit it out!" he snapped impatiently.

Misaki jumped at the sound of his voice and threw him a dirty look.

"Fine," she grumbled.

Finally, she took a deep breath.

"Takumi and I are back together," she blurted out.

As soon as she spoke those words, there was dead silence between the little group for a few seconds before Aoi finally unfroze as he turned to face Suzuna with an all mighty smirk on his face.

"You owe me fifty bucks," he declared smugly, holding his hands out expectantly towards her.

Suzuna sighed wearily as she fished through her wallet for the money.

"Couldn't wait another week or so to jump him, could you onee-san?" the girl grumbled unhappily as she gave the gloating blue haired boy the money.

Misaki blinked in shock at the duo, "Wha-What on earth?" she spluttered indignantly.

Shintani laughed as he threw an arm around his wife.

"Suzuna and Aoi-chan have had a bet on how long it would take before you two got back together. Aoi bet five weeks, Suzuna said six," he explained cheerily.

Suzuna pouted unhappily, "I was banking on your stubbornness to hold out a little longer," she sighed.

Misaki felt her eye twitch.

"You guys _bet_ on us?" she screeched, then realized something and suddenly all the air was knocked out of her.

The raven haired girl turned and faced the duo with a look of pure shock on her face, "Wait a minute, y-you guys _knew_ we were going to get back together?" she said disbelievingly.

Minako laughed delicately, "Oh honey, since the moment you guys broke up, we always knew you would find a way back into each others lives," she giggled.

"Not all of us were happy about that fact though," Aoi chipped in, as he grumpily took a swig out of his drink.

Minako just smiled, "You two were never perfect for each other, but you had a way of _making_ it perfect. So when you spilt up, we knew it was only a matter of time till you got back together, so this really isn't all that surprising to us."

Suzuna grinned wolfishly, "Onee-chan could never stay away from brother-in-law," she smirked.

Misaki blushed in mortification as she tried to splutter out a decent reply while Usui just laughed happily along with the rest of them.

"Jerks," she huffed while Usui just pulled her in and kissed her on the forehead.

* * *

 **Do leave a review and let me know what you think! :D**


	16. Hunger

**Hunger**

 _Cause I'm on fire like a thousand suns, I couldn't put it out, even if I wanted to. These flames tonight, look into my eyes and say you want me too, like I want you._

* * *

The weeks few by quickly after that, after all, time passes in the blink of an eye when you're with the people you love. The duo grew even closer over their time together and they had already adapted to each others routines and even had mini traditions of their own.

After discovering that both of them had most of their Thursday nights free, Usui and Misaki almost unknowingly made Thursdays their 'date nights' where they would spend hours together watching movies or just chatting.

It was nothing solid though, just something they had gotten used to, hence Usui was still unsure about whether she would spend every Thursday night with him and hence felt obliged to ask her the day before, just in case.

"You _are_ spending the evening with me, aren't you?" Usui asked, only half teasing.

The blonde was currently in the kitchen cooking while Misaki watched from the counter, out of reach from anything and hence, keeping both of them safe and sane.

Misaki rolled her eyes and was about to shoot back with a huffy 'Of course I am you moron!' when an idea struck her. She could have a little fun with this. After all, he had teased her relentlessly so many times, it was only fair she returned the favor…

"I promised Mike I'd spend the day with him though," she said as she pouted over dramatically, fluttering her eyelashes as innocently as possible.

The sound of chopping stopped as Usui froze, turning to Misaki almost mechanically, "Mike?" he asked tensely.

"Didn't I tell you about Mike?" she said angelically, though she was smirking inwardly.

Finally! The tables were turned and now _she_ could have fun teasing _him_!

"No. You didn't, love," he said with barely controlled jealousy.

"Who…who is he?" he asked, trying to feign aloofness as he turned back to chop the vegetables, but his act was given away as he sliced the vegetables so harshly he was likely to cut through the chopping board anytime soon.

"Oh you know, just some guy at work," she said dismissively and she saw his shoulders loosen up as he relaxed little, but they tensed up again as she continued, "He's asked me to dinner a couple of times and we've been out a few times. He's quite a sweet guy," she said with feigned obliviousness.

Upon seeing his contorted face, Misaki was unable to contain her laughter anymore as she burst into giggles.

"Now I see why you like teasing me so much," Misaki laughed as she gave a very dumbfounded Usui a peck on the lips, "It's so much fun!"

Usui blinked in surprise at the words for a few seconds, but when he finally realized what had conspired, his eyes darkened dangerously.

"Oh, it's fun is it?" he smirked threateningly as he took a step towards her, dropping the knife down on the counter.

Misaki laughed nervously and backed away.

"Now, now, Takumi," she appeased, "Don't do anything rash."

Usui just grinned ferociously and took a step forward and Misaki retaliated by taking another step back.

Their little game continued for a while until Misaki accidentally backed into the arm rest of the couch, causing her to tumble over and land on the cushions with a soft 'oof'.

Usui smirked happily at the turn of events as he stalked over to her and pinned her down on the cushions before she could get up, effectively straddling her.

"Still fun?" he teased as he moved closer to her, bending down press his lips to her neck.

Misaki whimpered a little, "No."

Usui laughed and kissed her on the cheek before helping her up so that they were both sitting on the couch.

"Leave the teasing to me, love," he joked.

Misaki blushed to the roots of her hair.

"PERVERT!"

* * *

MIsaki shivered slightly as she waited outside the studio. Autumn was starting to set in nicely and the air around her took a chill. Normally, she was well prepared for this kind of weather but one of her co-workers had forgotten her jacket so Misaki had graciously loaned her own one to the lady. So now, she was standing at the curb waiting for her 'husband' to pick her up in nothing but a thin t-shirt and shorts.

The raven-haired girl rocked back and forth slightly on her heels as she rubbed her palms together in an attempt to keep warm.

Where was Usui? He was usually either early or on time, he had never been late before.

Misaki fidgeted nervously. Did he forget about her? Or did something happen to him?

Before she could really ponder on that thought however, Misaki suddenly felt a weird chill shoot through her.

It wasn't like the mildly pleasant autumn air around her, but rather a completely different sensation. It felt like someone had dumped ice down her back and she stiffened up. Her heart started pounding wildly in her chest as her eyes darted frantically around. What she was looking for she wasn't even sure, but it felt like someone was watching her.

Carefully, she combed through the foreboding shadows of the alleys surrounding her, half expecting something to jump out at her.

She felt her blood turn to ice as the seconds ticked by and the tension within her just continued to expand like a balloon waiting to burst.

Suddenly, there was a flash of movement towards her right and she immediately whipped her head in that direction, trying hard not to tremble and praying hard that it was a robber and not a ghost.

After all, if it was a thief, she could deal with him/her no problem. But, if it was something supernatural, she might just faint on the spot.

Nervously, she took a step towards the direction she had seen the thing move at.

Just as she moved forward, the shadow immediately started running away and Misaki immediately recognized it to be the shadow to be the distinct figure of a human being.

All fear draining from her system, Misaki immediately made a move to set chase to her stalker.

However, before she could take another step, a flash of headlights appeared and Usui pulled up in front of her.

Misaki squinted at the sudden influx of light as she tried to adjust to the sudden brightness.

"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late, Misa," Usui apologized as he stepped out of the car, "I got caught in jam on the way back from the store and-hey are you okay?" he asked, cutting himself off when he registered her shell-shock and tense expression.

Misaki blinked dazedly.

"I thought I saw…" Misaki trailed off as she shook her head, "Never mind," she said dismissively as she turned away from the alley and stepped into the car.

For a second there…she could have sworn the person had an all too familiar shock of long blonde hair…

Usui frowned but nonetheless said nothing as he stepped back into the drivers seat and drove off.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked uncertainly as he reached over to squeeze Misaki's hand, his eyes darting from the road to her in concern.

She nodded firmly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

"What did you go to the store for?" she asked confusedly.

Usui just smirked, "Oh, just to buy some movies for our date night," he said causally.

Misaki squinted at him in suspicion. He sounded way too happy.

"What kind of movies?" she asked warily.

Usui just smiled pleasantly at her as he parked the car.

"I'll show you in a minute," he chirped as he got out and rushed to the boot to collect the DVDs.

Misaki hesitated for a while before getting out of the car, already cautious against him.

Finally though, she just shrugged on got out. How bad could it be? He probably just bought a bunch of horror films to scare her. It wasn't going to be a pleasant movie marathon, but she could live with it.

When she saw the actual tapes he bought though, suddenly horror movies seemed like paradise.

Usui grinned cheekily and waved a set of DVDs in front of her and Misaki's eyes widen in mortification at the sight if her faces printed on the cover of the CD boxes. That sneaky little bastard went and bought all the movies she had ever filmed in!

"Oh god. No," Misaki refused, "No way Usui Takumi. There is no way in hell I am watching those," she laughed as she plopped down on the couch, swinging her arm across her face to shield her eyes.

"Oh come on, why not? It could be fun," Usui cajoled as he popped the disc in.

She snorted, "Yeah. Fun for you," she grumbled and was about to complain some more when an idea struck her.

Taking her arm away from her eyes, a smirk danced on her face as she moved closer to Usui who was lounging on the couch.

"Come on Takumi," she purred, smiling her best smile at him, "For my birthday?" she pleaded as she fluttered her eyelashes and pouted prettily, desperately trying to remember every class she ever took on acting sultry.

Usui was shocked by her sudden change in attitude as a very undignified choking sound came out from his mouth.

Misaki smirked to herself at how well she was doing before slowly running her hand up his chest and to his shoulders as she leaned in closer.

"Please Takumi?" she begged as she looked up at him from beneath her lashes in a way that she knew drove him crazy.

When she didn't get a response beyond gaping, she leaned in and kissed him passionately on the mouth, moving her lips feverishly against his as her hands meandered their way up his chest tauntingly and tousled through his hair.

She moved closer to him to deepen the kiss and Usui gladly complied, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer so that she was straddling his lap.

He kissed her hungrily, his right hand was pressed against the small of her back while his other hand was on her face, holding her close. Not satisfied with just her lips, he moved down to her throat which he kissed and sucked at, enjoying the low moans he elicited from her.

She wasn't one to give in though as she yanked him back upwards (none too gently either) and kissed him hard, pushing him backwards roughly as she did so and pressing his back against the couch.

After a while, she finally pulled away and smiled, and although her breathing was labored and her face was flushed, she still remembered the task at hand.

"So can we please not watch it?" she asked innocently.

"Huh?" came his hazy response as his eyes continued to trail hungrily on her lips.

Taking advantage of his emotions, Misaki began pressing soft butterfly kisses around his neck to distract him further. And it worked as the blonde haired man closed his eyes and threw his head back as he groaned appreciatively.

"We can not watch the movies anymore…right?" she repeated as she moved away, smiling at him dazzlingly as she played with his hair teasingly.

Unfortunately for her, Usui seemed to snap out of it at the last minute as the lust cleared from his eyes.

"Nice try Misaki," he smirked, "But, as much as I want to kiss you right now, I think I like seeing you blush too much," he said cheerily and leaned down for a peck but Misaki moved away, grumbling.

"If you still think you're getting a kiss after that Usui Takumi, you have another thing coming for you Mister," she huffed indignantly.

Usui just chuckled and shook his head as he watched him girlfriend crawl off his lap and sit down on the couch, stubbornly moving to the other end as she hugged a pillow and sulked to herself.

Smiling, he grabbed the remote and started the movie before scooting towards her so that she was pressed between him and the armrest. At that point, Misaki realized her mistake of hiding at the corner; she was trapped with nowhere to run.

"Come on Misaki, you know you can't stay mad at me," he cooed as he held his arms open.

Misaki glared at him distastefully and instead of accepting his hug like he hoped she would, she just threw the pillow at him.

"You might as well get comfortable with that because you are not touching me for the rest of the night," she huffed.

Usui laughed heartily, "You know we share the same bed, don't you love?" he taunted.

Misaki blushed angrily, "Well then get comfortable with the _couch_ cause you're staying here tonight!" she scowled.

Usui chuckled, 'Whatever you want, love," he smirked as he turned his attention to the screen, causing Misaki's scowl to darken.

In the end, despite her frustration, she did end up cuddling with Usui on the couch, leaning comfortably on his broad chest as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. And just like that, the duo sat comfortably together as they watched the movie.

The process of watching the movie was fun and although Usui teased her relentlessly at every opportunity he got, Misaki still enjoyed herself thoroughly. She never would've thought that she would ever have this opportunity with Usui again, and she was having fun…that was until a certain scene came up.

"Oh god," Misaki whispered in horror as the sudden image of her and the male lead kissing heatedly on a bed popped up.

"I completely forgot about that scene," she groaned in mortification.

Usui frowned when he saw Misaki and some other guy making out on the screen. He knew it was just a movie and Misaki was not his to claim, but it still didn't sit right with him.

He glanced at Misaki and - to his anger - he saw her blushing profusely.

Completely forgetting about the movie, he leaned in to kiss Misaki roughly on the mouth.

She protested at first, but it was weak as she herself enjoyed the kiss and it wasn't long before she was responding back eagerly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wound his hands around her waist, pulling her onto his lap once again.

Usui parted her mouth to deepen the kiss and their kiss was getting more and more heated when Misaki suddenly pulled away, causing Usui to moan in protest.

"Usui Takumi," Misaki breathed heavily, "I swear to all the gods out there, if you're only doing this because of some testosterone driven moment…I will kill you," she vowed through shallow breaths.

Usui chuckled then reached out and switched off the television before sweeping Misaki off the couch and into his arms. The raven haired girl yelped in surprise at her boyfriend's sudden movements and she blushed profusely.

"I'm not," he promised as he swooped in for another kiss before whisking her off to their bedroom.

* * *

 **And now you know why this story is rated a T XD. I hope you guys liked the (kinda) smutty ending. It was embarrassing as hell to write. Reviews are always appreciated uwu**


	17. Blank Space

**Blank Space**

 _Cause we're young and we're reckless. We'll take this way too far. It'll leave you breathless, or with a nasty scar._

* * *

A young woman with flowing blonde hair smirked in triumph as she crossed her arms over her chest. Sitting in the booth opposite of her was a burly looking middle aged man with coal black hair and ice blue eyes. The man would have been handsome were it not for the twisted smile on his face or the long scar that stretched across his right cheek.

"Do you understand what you need to do now?" she purred to the man.

The man grinned ferociously, the white scar on his cheek seemed to glimmer maliciously in the dim lighting of the room.

"Of course," he scoffed.

The woman smiled in satisfaction at his answer. She then reached over to her purse and produced a large wad of cash before she slid it across the booth and towards him.

"Your down payment," she said simply, "The rest you will get after the job is done."

The man nodded, counting the thick stack, "It will be done swiftly," he reassured as he stood up to leave.

The blonde laughed, "Oh no, take your time. And remember; make her suffer."

* * *

Misaki yawned and stretched languidly as her eyes fluttered open. Rays of sunlight were shining though the window and judging by the blinding lights, it was sometime in the late morning. The raven haired girl squinted and grumbled at the piercing lights before rolling to face the other side, She was still groggy and only half awake and didn't realize register coming into contact with someone's naked chest.

"Morning sunshine," a deep voice rumbled and with that, Misaki snapped awake.

A full blown blush covered her face as she realized that it was none other than Usui lying beside her, his bare chest pressed against hers.

She slowly turned around to face him and saw him smiling gently down at her, looking extremely pleased and contented.

"Morning," Misaki managed to squeak out as she smiled weakly at him.

At her panicked look, the happiness on Usui's face immediately disappeared and was replaced by concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, already starting to pull away to check Misaki for signs of injuries but the girl wouldn't budge.

Misaki just blushed and shook her head and at that Usui immediately realized what was bothering her and chuckled.

"Embarrassed about last night, love?" he teased.

Misaki glared at him angrily, an amazingly red blush still staining her cheeks as she turned away from him stubbornly and buried her head in her pillow.

"No," she muttered into the cushion.

This just made Usui smirk even more as he leaned down and kissed her cheek before peppering her neck and shoulder with kisses.

"You know, it's funny," he smirked, "You said no touching last night before the movie, but I remember lots and lots of touching," he mocked as he kissed her shoulder, "And touching," he kissed her neck, "And touching," he whispered, kissing ear this time.

Misaki squeaked and balled up in the blankets even more.

He purred, "Come on Misaki," he sighed as he tugged at the sheets, forcing her out of her hiding spot, "It's not as if we haven't done it before," he pointed out bluntly.

Misaki blushed even more at the reminder, "Let's just go get ready," she grumbled as she pushed him off.

As she was about to get out of bed however, she remembered something.

She turned slowly to look at him and was embarrassed to see that he was staring intensely at her.

"Can you not look?" she requested.

Usui laughed at that, "Nothing I didn't see last night," he joked as he threw a flirtatious wink at her.

Frustrated at her boyfriend's constant teasing, Misaki took a pillow and chucked it at his face. Much to her chagrin, Usui just laughed at her actions as he moved the pillow away to hug her.

Misaki squirmed a little at first but when she realized he wasn't going to let her go she gave up and just leaned in to his embrace.

They cuddled in comfortable silence for a while before Usui broke it.

"I love you," he proclaimed seriously as he stared at her intently, searching her face desperately for her reaction.

The insecurity in his voice immediately made her somber up as she turned to face him. She smiled softly at him before gently cupping his cheek and pressing a chaste kiss to his mouth.

"I love you too," she whispered.

They smiled at each other for a while before embarrassment seemed to get the best of Misaki and she smashed another pillow on his face. Then, she picked up his fallen shirt and shrugged it on before running into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

Shocked, Usui once again removed the pillow before staring at the locked toilet door. Then, a smile broke out on his face as he began laughing.

* * *

After the morning fiasco, Usui dropped Misaki off at set (thankfully for the duo she wasn't due until the late afternoon) before heading off to work himself.

By the end of the day, he was exhausted from all the projects he had to oversee and approve, and he was just basically dying to see his girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, Misaki had texted him to inform him that she would be coming home late that night. And she warned him not to wait up for her because she didn't know what time she would be back.

Needless to say he wasn't very pleased with that.

Nonetheless, he heeded her words and tried to head off to bed by himself when he reached home. The last thing he wanted was her to get mad over something as trivial as this.

He changed and crawled into their bed, lying down and trying to fall asleep as he stared at the ceiling. However, it was a near impossible feat for him to fall asleep. The bed felt strangely cold and empty without Misaki snuggled beside him.

'Don't be ridiculous, Usui,' he chided himself, 'You were able to fall asleep by yourself before you ever even met her.'

But no matter what he told himself, he still couldn't close his eyes. It wasn't the same without her by his side and his body wouldn't adjust to the new change.

After a while of rolling about in bed, Usui finally gave up and sat up, reaching for his phone by the nightstand and fumbling with it.

He debated silently to himself on whether or not the call Misaki. She told him not to wait up, and if he called her she might get mad, but he couldn't help but worry.

It was the dead of the night and, no matter how she may act sometimes, Misaki was still a woman, and a very pretty one at that. It made her an optimum prey to many people out there. Adding on the fact that she was famous and extremely wealthy wasn't going to help matters either.

His heart clenched at the thought of something happening to her.

Giving in, he called her office instead of her cell, just in case her meeting hadn't ended which would cause her to chew his ear off for not only not going to bed but also disturbing her.

"Hello? Yes this is Usui Takumi, I'm Misaki's husband," the word still felt foreign on his mouth, but in a nice way, "Is Misaki still in the meeting?" he asked politely.

There was a pause before the person on the other end answered, "I'm sorry Usui-san, but Misaki-san already left twenty minutes ago," the secretary apologized.

Upon hearing that, his heart started to beat frantically in his chest. A huge weight seem to plunge in his chest as he felt a chill go through his heart.

"I understand, thank you," he replied hastily before hanging up as he dashed out of the door, not even passing to grab his coat before starting up the car and speeding all the way to her office.

* * *

Misaki sighed lethargically as she stepped out of the building. Glancing at her watch, she cursed under her breath. It was close to midnight already. Damn the director for nagging on for so long. Why did she even agree to take this project again?

Groaning slightly, she began her slow trudge back towards the house. She knew she should've at least called a taxi to pick her up but her mind was still buzzing from the meeting and she hoped that walking would help clear her head.

However, about ten minutes into her walk home, she suddenly felt a chill go down her spine…the same chill she felt only a night ago.

Freezing immediately, Misaki clenched her fists as she began to evaluate her surroundings, searching for any signs of danger lurking around the corner.

Every shadow seemed to jump out at her and she tensed at every sound she heard. Something wasn't right around here…

Just as she thought that, a movement from behind her caught her eye as a silver blade caught light from the reflection of the dim street lamp.

Her reflexes kicked in before she could really process what was going on, and thank goodness for that because the blade barely skimmed her by an inch, instead stabbing at the place where she once was.

Her heart started to beat frantically in her chest as she whipped around to face her opponent. The lighting was poor and she couldn't make out his facial features properly, but even in the dim lightning, she could see the white scar that covered nearly half his face.

The man gave her no time to recover as he swung forward again.

Misaki was quick to dodge his advances and as he swung the blade out towards her stomach, she danced back to avoid the sharp knife. The man then lashed out at her, slicing at her torso. She managed to veer away his blade and struck out at him, swinging her fists towards his face and making contact with a satisfying crunch.

Unfortunately this didn't delay or deter him and he continued to jab at her.

Misaki cursed under her breath.

Who was this man? Why was he coming after her?

"I don't have any money with me!" she snapped as she once again evaded his attacks, "This is going to be a lot more trouble than it's worth if you keep it up!" she warned.

The man laughed manically as he continued his attacks, "It's not your money I'm after, sweetheart," he growled.

Misaki frowned in confusion as she hesitated her punch, and that split second cost her dearly as the man took advantage of her distraction and stabbed her in the abdomen.

Misaki gasped in pain and shock as the knife ripped through her flesh as she buckled to her knees.

The man retracted the knife as he grinned maliciously at her, "Hope you had a nice life Miss Ayuzawa," he taunted jeeringly before taking off.

Misaki stared after his retreating figure in a daze as she cupped her wound, trying to apply pressure to it. Her body crumpled to the floor and spots danced before her eyes.

Just then, a worried voice cut through the silent night.

"MISAKI!" an all too familiar screamed and Misaki say the silhouette of a blonde man rush towards her.

"Ta-Takumi," she whispered as she felt warm arms encircle her.

"Stay with me, Misaki!" Usui cried panically as he lifted her off the ground.

And the last image she saw before she blacked out was a pair of worried emerald eyes boring into her.

* * *

 **Misaki's injured! Oh no! HAHAHAHA. Leave a review and let me know what you think :3**


	18. Stay With Me

**Omg thank you guys so much for all the heart warming reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Stay With Me**

 _I don't want you to leave, will you hold my hand? Oh won't you stay with me? Cause you're all I need._

* * *

When Misaki next opened her eyes, the first thing she was aware of was the blinding white lights on the ceiling that pierced her vision, which was doing absolute wonders for her already pounding head. Not.

After blinking to and clear the spots dancing before her eyes, Misaki observed her surroundings.

A heart monitor was placed next to her as it recorded the steady thrum of her pulse and there were multiple needles inserted in her arms. The raven haired girl winced slightly as she shifted her arms by accident and the needles prodded against her.

She groaned slightly to herself as it finally registered to her where exactly she was. Wonderful, she was in a hospital.

She glanced around the room and was surprised to find Usui's long frame curled up on the hospital couch. He was fast asleep, and Misaki almost smiled at the sight but she noticed the crease between his eyebrows and his fitful expression, a stark contrast to the usual peaceful expression he had when he was asleep.

Frowning herself, she shifted herself, intending to get up and at least pull a blanket over him so he would be more comfortable and maybe get a better rest. However, as soon as she moved, she felt a shooting pain go through her gut and she hissed in pain.

She barely made a sound, but it must have been some sort of alarm to Usui as his eyes immediately snapped open and he was by her side in the blink of an eye.

"Misaki, you're awake, oh thank god. What hurts? Are you okay? I mean, you're not okay, but…" Usui continued rambling on as he helped Misaki back into bed and checked for for any signs of open wounds.

"I'm fine, Takumi," Misaki finally cut him off with a huff, "I'm not made out of porcelain you know?"

Usui sighed, "I know, Misa. But you really scared me there," he said as he pulled the blanket over her leg.

The frown on his lips and the worry in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Misaki as she felt guilt swell within her. She never meant to make him worry.

Misaki bit her lip, "How long have I been out?"

Usui frowned, "Close to two days."

Misaki winced, "That bad?"

The blonde sighed again as he moved away from her, choosing instead to lean on the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You were in critical condition and unstable when you were in surgery, Misa," he sighed, "Bad is a severe understatement of what happened."

Misaki furrowed her eyebrows together, "I-I don't even know what happened," she admitted, "I was walking home and then this guy came up from behind me. I noticed something ofd before he appeared and I was keeping an eye out, so he didn't really manage to sneak up on me. But when we were fighting he got me when I slipped up and-" she cut herself off there, noticing something off about Usui as she spoke.

His posture was unusually rigid and he wasn't even facing her. His face was turned to the opposite side of the room and his expression was stormy as he glared at the blank wall as if it had murdered his cat. His fists were clenched so tightly together that his knuckles were turning white and his lips were pulled into a thin line.

She tensed up herself upon seeing him, "What's wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

Usui stiffened even more upon hearing that.

"Misaki," he choked out, "I almost lost you today, do you have any idea how scared I was when I found you lying there?" his voice broke.

How hadn't she noticed before? Usui's eyes were red rimmed and slightly puffy. He had been crying. Her heart crumbled as Misaki felt her stomach leaden with guilt and shame.

Usui immediately saw the guilt on her face and panicked.

"I'm not saying it's your fault," he immediately rushed on, "It's definitely far from your fault," he whispered as he cupped her cheek and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"It's not your fault either, Takumi," Misaki breathed as she looked him pleadingly in the eyes, sensing the guilt in his tone.

Usui sighed, "I shouldn't have let you come home by yourself like that. I should've insisted on picking you up. Maybe then this wouldn't have happened,"

Misaki frowned, "Takumi, I'm not a child," she gently said as she pulled him down to sit next to her, "I can make my own decisions."

"I know you can," he said, "It's just, I should've done…something," he sighed.

Misaki placed her hand gently on his cheek, "You did do something. You saved me from them."

"But-" Usui began however Misaki cut him off.

"But nothing," she said gently and yet firmly, "It was my choice. _My_ decision. It's not your fault. And it's not mine either. It was the attackers fault."

Usui clasped her hands tightly, "You don't get it Misaki. I love you. I can't lose you. Not ever. Not like this," he croaked as tears began to stream down his face.

Misaki gently wiped away his tears with her thumb.

"You are _not_ going to lose me. It's not that easy to get rid of me," she joked half heartedly.

Usui chuckled a little and Misaki smiled. She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

"I love you too," she muttered as she pulled away.

Usui smiled a little, "Yay, Misa-chan said that she loved me," he laughed teasingly.

Misaki rolled her eyes, though it was obvious that she was absolutely relieved that he was feeling better.

"It's not like I never say it," she grumbled, a light blush dusting her cheek.

Usui chuckled, "You rarely say it," he pointed out.

Misaki grumbled something intelligible under her breath before she glared up at him.

"I love you. I love you. I love you," she fiercely proclaimed.

Usui blinked in shock for a while before bursting out in laughter.

"You look so unwilling to say those words, Misa-chan," he teased.

Misaki gave him the stink eye for that as she huffily crossed her arms and was about to shoot back another retort at him when suddenly an involuntary yawn came over her and she blushed in embarrassment.

Usui laughed heartily at that as he gently kissed his sulky girlfriend on the forehead.

"It's late, you should get some rest, it's been a long day," he sighed, obviously reluctant to leave her side.

He let go of her hand and was about to return to the couch to let her rest when Misaki suddenly blurted out.

"The couch is too small!"

Usui froze at that before he turned around and faced her with an amused yet perplexed expression.

Misaki blushed an even darker red under his gaze, "The couch can't be comfortable, it's too small for you to even stretch out properly," she rambled.

Usui chuckled, "Are you suggesting we share your bed then?" he teased, referring to how small width wise the hospital bed was.

Misaki glared down at the sheets, "O-Only if you want to," she mumbled embarrassedly.

Usui was stunned shocked at her unexpected proposal for a minute, but then, he quickly recovered and smiled to himself.

Strolling over to his blushing girlfriend, he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I'd love to," he reassured, before slipping underneath the covers of the hospital bed with her.

By instinct, he wrapped his arms around her waist and she snuggled close to him. Although the bed was tiny and cramp, they fell asleep in no time, never more home than they were right then, in each others arms.

* * *

"What do you mean you failed?" the blonde woman hissed as she glared at the man across from her.

The man just shrugged, "A friend came along to help her. Some blonde man, I was out numbered so I ran."

The blonde's ice blue eyes glinted dangerously under the light, "You ran?" she growled.

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly.

The blonde seethed at that, "You are suppose to be the best in your department. And you give me a half assed job."

"Relax, lady," the man scoffed, his scar glimmering in the light, "I can always go back to finish the job."

The blonde sighed and leaned back on the chair.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job," she grumbled under her breath.

Rubbing her temple she waved the man off with a dismissive flick of her hand, "Forget it. I'll handle it from here. You may leave."

The man glared at her, "I'm not leaving until I get the rest of my money, princess," he said mockingly as he pulled out a knife.

She rolled her eyes, barely bothered by the sharp blade just a thrust away from her.

"You didn't complete the job, ergo you don't get the money," she scoffed.

The man leaned forward and pressed the blade onto the crook of her neck, hard enough to draw a well of blood.

"Give me my money, before I ruin that pretty face of yours," he threatened, "Nothing personal, doll face, just good business," he jeered.

The blonde didn't even flinch and rather just smirked up at him defiantly.

He opened his mouth to yell at her but suddenly felt something cool pressed up against his abdomen. With a sickening feeling churning in his gut, he realized what the object was as he heard the click of a barrel.

At that, he slowly withdrew his blade and backed away, but she just continued forward as she kept the barrel pressed up against his flesh.

Then, she leaned in close so that her lips were pressed against his ear.

"Nothing personal, doll face, just good business."

With that, the flash of the gun illuminated the room.

* * *

 **Do leave a review and let me know what you think :D**


	19. Bruises

**Hey guys I'm so sorry. I know it's been over two months since I've updated but I lost inspiration for a while there. I'll try my best to get back on schedule!**

 **On a side note, Merry (very late) Christmas and Happy (early) New** **Year! I'll see you guys again :D**

* * *

 **Bruises**

 _I would love to fix it all for you. I would love to fix you, too. Please don't fix a thing, whatever you do. These bruises, make for better conversation, loses, the vibes that separates. It's good to know you've got a friend, that you remember now and then, everybody looses. We've all got bruises._

* * *

 **"** Takumi…will you please just let me down? People are staring!" Misaki hissed to her boyfriend as they continued to walk out of the hospital…or at least Usui continued to walk out with Misaki in his arms.

"Nope," he popped cheerily, "There's nothing wrong with me carrying my injured girlfriend - wife in fact for all they know - they can stare all they want. I don't care," he shrugged.

" _I_ care!" Misaki growled in return as she continued to squirm about.

Usui sighed dramatically, "Misaki, I already told you to stop struggling."

"And I told you to put me down!" she shot back.

Usui just smirked haughtily, "If my _dearest_ girlfriend doesn't stop squirming, I'm going to have to punish her when we get home," he purred into her ear, his velvety voice dropping to a low and husky tone.

Misaki immediately stopped writhing at that, she knew too well that he wouldn't hesitate to carry out his threat. And so, she stayed obediently still in his arms, a dark scowl plastered all over her face as she frowned to herself.

The blonde laughed at his girlfriend's sulky expression as he kissed her in between her scrunched up brows.

"Keep that up and your face is going to stick like that," Usui joked as he carefully placed her in the passenger seat of the car.

Misaki huffed childishly and turned away from him as he settled into the driver's seat.

"So be it then," she grumbled unhappily.

Usui chuckled at her disgruntled expression as he reached over and clasped her hand tightly while making sure that he was still focused on the road ahead.

"You look cute when you're mad," Usui cooed teasingly at the scowling raven-haired girl.

Misaki, however, didn't look impressed and rather he frown deepened as she stared at the road ahead.

Usui laughed, "Okay, I'm sorry, Misa-chan, but it's for your own good. The doctor said that you needed rest and not to stress your wound," he pointed out, "The stitches need time to heal and if you move too much you might tear them again."

"I was in the hospital for two weeks!" Misaki screeched at him, "They've had enough time to heal!" she huffed.

Upon hearing her words, Usui tried very hard to suppress the smirk that was overtaking his face.

"Ah, so is that why you're upset, because I insisted that they extended your stay?" he teased.

Misaki glared at him and ripped her hand away harshly from his, a dark aura surrounding her. By now, they had already reached their home once again and Usui just chuckled to himself as he scooped Misaki out of the car.

"You went completely overboard," Misaki complained, "I only had to stay a week for observation but you made them keep me in that boring hellhole for twice that long!" she grumbled.

Usui laughed and kissed her gently on the forehead as he placed her on the couch.

"Was just making sure, love," he pacified, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Misaki still didn't look happy but Usui just smiled cheerily.

"And remember, take is slow for the next couple of weeks. When you go on set, go easy and no strenuous activities, do you hear me?" he said sternly.

Misaki was about to shoot an angry retort at him when an idea struck her.

"Okay," she agreed, being surprisingly compliant.

Usui raised his eyebrows at this, having expected a bigger reaction from her.

"Okay?" he echoed back confusedly.

Misaki nodded her head, "Yep. You're right, I need to take it easy after surgery," she agreed, "Could you just come here for a sec?" she asked, then signaled for him to come closer.

By this point, Usui was suspicious of her but nonetheless he complied and sat on the couch beside her.

Then, she did something that surprised him, she kissed him hard on the mouth. The kiss was by no means gentle or soft like most of their kisses but rather demanding and unyielding. Usui was shocked for a while, but it didn't take him long to respond and he was just getting into the kiss when Misaki pulled away abruptly.

She smirked when she saw his clouded eyes and smiled innocently at him.

"Sorry, that's as far as we go, love," she mocked, "No strenuous activities remember?" she teased.

Usui's eyes darkened dangerously, "Minx," he grumbled under his breath.

Misaki just laughed and pecked him on the cheek.

"Well, it was under your orders," she winked and she started to get up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Usui asked with a raised brow upon seeing this.

Misaki grabbed her coat from the rack, "I'm going to work," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Usui was up and by her side in a flash, "No you're not," he huffed, "You're recovering from a stab wound, you can't be going to work in this condition," he chided.

"Relax," she said with a roll of her eyes, "It's an easy scene today," she promised as she pecked him on the lips before grabbing her keys.

The blonde sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "You're not gonna take no for an answer, are you?" he groaned.

"Nope," Misaki cheerily replied.

Usui snatched the keys from her, "Well then at least let me drive," he sighed.

Misaki smiled, "That, I'll allow," she laughed and let him escort her to the car once again.

* * *

Usui took a deep breath, there was nothing wrong with going to see his girlfriend at work…not that Misaki had been very receptive when he surprised her, be it at work or school.

However, despite Misaki's earlier attempt at convincing, Usui had still been worried about her condition and hence decided to stop by to check on her while she was at work. But, he was a little worried that Misaki wouldn't take his entrance too well…especially since she had forbidden him coming to visit her at work beforehand.

'Ah to hell with it,' he shrugged as he strolled up to reception desk and cleared his throat.

"Hi, I'm here to meet Misaki," he said cooly.

The receptionist barely looked up from his work as he continued typing away.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked briskly.

"No," he said.

The receptionist sighed, "I'm sorry sir, but you can only meet up with Misaki-chan if you have an appointment," he pointedly said.

Usui felt a twitch annoyance flitter through him at the man's casual way of addressing his girlfriend.

"I don't think her husband needs an appointment to see her," Usui said coldly.

That got the receptionist attention as his head snapped up. The man's eyes widen in shock and fear at Usui's unpleased face and quickly stood up and bowed.

"Of course, Mr W-Walker," the man stammered, "Mrs Walker is currently filming on set, but I'll gladly take you there first so you can wait for her," he said as he ushered Usui towards a nearby door.

Usui nodded in thanks and followed the man into the room.

Misaki hadn't told him what movie she was filming in, and hence, when he saw the scene laid out in front of him, his eyes widened in surprise.

The set was decorated lavishly in a Victorian bedroom theme with a large canopy bed and beautiful mahogany dressers. Everything was beautifully set up and the details were done down to the last carving. All in all, it was gorgeous.

But that wasn't what was surprised him. What surprised him was that Misaki was standing in the middle of it all…dressed in a maid costume.

It was nothing like the outfit she wore at Maid Latte with a short skirt, but rather far more traditional and more resembling the costume she had to wear when she was in disguise at the Walker Mansion all those years ago.

She stood serving a young man with jet black hair and striking blue eyes dressed in a plain white shirt and pants.

"Why so stiff today, my dear?" the man purred, smirking at Misaki.

Misaki seemed to tense up even more at his words.

"No reason, my lord," she bowed slightly.

The man raised his eyebrows at that, "Since when do you call me 'my lord'?" he demanded unhappily, a pout evident on his handsome features.

Misaki hesitated, "You are my master, it's only right that I address you appropriately," she responded robotically.

A flash of anger passed through the man's features.

"Are you just gonna act like nothing happened last night?" he growled.

Misaki turned away from him, clenching her fists by her side, "Nothing did happen last night," she whispered, "At least nothing that will happen again."

The dark haired man stood up at that.

"Why are you shying away?" he asked softly as he took a step forward.

Misaki backed up but didn't respond.

He stepped forward, "Is it my mother? Did she say something to you?"

Misaki didn't reply again but she looked away as she moved back and that gave him all the answer he needed.

He took a step forward, she took a step back, and suddenly her back made contact with the wall. Realizing her trapped situation, panic filled her eyes and she attempted to duck away from him.

However, before she could move, the man grabbed her shoulders and pinned her against the wall before kissing her hard on the mouth.

Misaki froze for a second before she melted under his touch, kissing him back with equal passion as she tangled her hands through his hair.

Usui clenched his fists at the scene unfolding in front of him, an unjustified wave of jealousy filling his mind as he watched their bodies pressed close together.

Then, the man reached and grabbed Misaki by her waist and hoisted her up as she skillfully wrapped her legs around his waist and Usui nearly snapped.

As if to torture him even more, Misaki let out a low moan and the man carried her towards the bed before laying her on it with her legs still around his waist.

Usui was just seconds away from stomping over there and ripping that man away from _his_ girlfriend when a voice interrupted his train of thought.

"CUT!" the director yelled and Usui startled slightly at the sudden noise.

With that, the two actors immediately separated themselves from each other and the man graciously helped Misaki up.

"Okay everyone!" the director hollered, "That's a wrap for today! Thank you for your hard work and I'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow!"

There was a murmur of 'Thank you for the hard work' passed around the studio as everyone packed up but Usui kept his eyes glued on the leading duo.

The man said something to Misaki that Usui couldn't hear and the raven haired hair girl laughed, a slight tinge of red touching her cheeks and Usui felt his jealousy only swell up more.

Misaki then glanced over at him and her features instantly darkened, a eerily smile plastered all over her face as she walked over to her boyfriend. At the look on he face, Usui forgot all about his jealousy as he gulped, suddenly fearing for his life.

"Hi there, love," he greeted nervously.

"Hello, Takumi," she replied with faked cheeriness.

"Is something the matter?" he asked while taking a small step back.

The motion didn't go unnoticed by Misaki and she smirked dangerously.

"What are you doing here; at work; where I specifically told you not to be?" she growled.

Usui smiled winningly at her, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay and not stressing yourself," he replied honestly.

Misaki sighed, she couldn't really fault him for that. She signaled wearily for them to head to the car and so they headed home together. Usui said nothing on the journey home, keeping eerily silent as he focused on the road while Misaki twitched nervously in her seat.

When they reached home and got out of the car, however, Usui suddenly spoke.

"Besides," Usui said, his voice suddenly dropping to a lower tone, "I see you're perfectly ok with taking up 'strenuous activities' now," he whispered, smirking at her wickedly as he inched nearer to his blushing girlfriend.

Now it was Misaki's turn to laugh nervously as she saw the unhappiness and jealousy reflecting in her boyfriend's eyes, "No need to get rash, Takumi, it was just acting, nothing more," she pacified.

Usui smiled, "Of course I know that," he said, backing up and looking like he would leave her alone for a second, and relief flooded into her system.

Then, a smirk dawned on his features and Misaki knew she was done for.

"Let's just talk about-mph!" Misaki's attempt at reasoning with Usui was cut off as the said boyfriend swooped down and claimed her lips with his.

Misaki yelped as Usui then swept her off her feet, not once breaking the kiss as he started fumbling with the locks to open their house door.

Misaki instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in closer, too intoxicated by his scent and touch to think straight.

"I need to get that man's _smell_ off of you," Usui growled as he finally managed to open the front door and carried Misaki over the threshold.

Misaki rolled her eyes, though she was obviously smiling a little.

"For goodness sake, Takumi, he's not even in to me," she huffed.

Usui laughed, "He's a fool not to be," he proclaimed as he crushed her lips with his again.

He was just about to carry Misaki up to their room when they suddenly heard the sickening click of a gun followed by a high pitched cackle.

"You're both fools."

* * *

 **I feel mildly sorry for leaving it in suspense like that...**

 **OH WELL**

 **Anyways, do leave a comment and let me know what you think :D**


	20. Fools

**THE STORY IS ALMOST FINISHED GUYS! WE'RE NEARLY THERE :'D I'm sorry it's so late…**

 **P.S. don't you love how the title links to the previous chapter? ;)**

 **TRIGGER WARNING - Mentions of blood and mild cursing.**

* * *

 **Fools**

 _Only fools fall for you. Only fools do what I do. Only fools fall._

* * *

Usui and Misaki both froze upon hearing the voice as they quickly pulled apart from each other to face the source of their interruption.

And there, sitting elegantly on their couch was none other than the blonde haired woman that Usui had hoped he would never have to see again.

"Lu-Lucille?" Usui fumbled out as he set Misaki down gently on the ground while staring in shock at his ex-fiancée.

It didn't help that said ex-fiancée was pointing a gun straight at Misaki, a crazed smile spread over her otherwise flawless features.

"What are you doing?" he demanded as he immediately pushed Misaki back and stepped in front of her, placing himself between the barrel of the gun and his girlfriend.

Misaki, however, was having none of his heroism as she pushed him back and stood side by side him.

"Misaki, now is not the time for this," Usui hissed as he tried once again to shield her from the gun, but she remained adamant in her position beside him.

"I'm not letting you do this," she said firmly, "I can't lose you anymore than you can lose me."

"She's not aiming for me, she's aiming for _you_ ," Usui growled.

"I don't care," Misaki snarled, "I'm not risking your life to protect mine."

Usui opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by Lucille.

"This is all very sweet and all," Lucille mocked, "But I didn't come here to watch you two profess your undying love for each other," she scoffed.

Misaki glared at her, "Then what the hell did you come here for?" she spat, "You are _not_ welcomed in our house."

"Shut up, you bitch," Lucille hissed and Usui's eyes flashed dangerously at the insult she just threw at Misaki.

He took a threatening step forward but Misaki held him back, not daring to let him get closer to Lucille. She was terrified that any wrong move would set Lucille off and send a bullet shooting through either one of them. Misaki couldn't lose Usui again, she just couldn't.

Lucille smirked at that as she begun waving her gun carelessly around, causing Misaki and Usui to flinch as she gestured to their surroundings.

"You know, this house was originally built for Takumi and I. You just got the sloppy seconds," she taunted, enjoying the anger she saw dawn across Misaki's features.

The blonde woman smirked, "This house isn't yours. You just _stole_ it," she spat, "Just like you stole Takumi from me."

"I was never yours to begin with," Usui said calmly as his eyes darted between the gun and Misaki.

The smirk vanished from Lucille's face in an instant after hearing that and the crazed look returned to her eyes.

"NO!" she screeched, "You love _ME_ , not her!"

Lucille then pointed the gun towards Misaki, a delusional smile covering her face, "She's just clouding your mind, poisoning your thoughts with her trickery and deceitful words," Lucille spat.

The blonde woman faced Takumi with an eerie smile, "When I get rid of her you'll see the truth, my love. Your mind will be cleared. And we can be free to love each other," she crooned.

Takumi pushed Misaki back behind him at that, ignoring her outraged cries.

"If you want to get to her, you're going to have to shoot me first. Cause there's is no way in hell that I'm letting you lay a hand on her," Usui growled.

Anger clouded Lucille's icy blue eyes, "STOP DEFENDING HER!" the blonde screeched, "SHE ISN'T WORTHY OF YOU!"

Usui's lips drew into a thin line at that, "First off, you do not get to decide who is or is not worthy of my love," he growled.

"And secondly, _I'm_ the one that isn't worthy of her, much less her unconditional love," Usui hissed, "I've hurt her time and time again with the choices I've made and the history of my lineage. And she has forgiven me time and time again. She has done nothing wrong but made the choice to love someone as poisonous as me."

Misaki's eyes teared up at that.

"Takumi…" she breathed as she clasped on to his hand tightly.

Usui gave her a faint smile as he squeezed her hand gently.

Lucille's eyes darkened even further at the sign of affection from the lovers.

"Move. Away. From. Her," the blonde growled through gritted teeth.

"No," Usui said firmly.

A cold look washed across Lucille's features as she cocked the gun.

"Fine," she said stoically, "If you won't move, then I'll _make_ you move."

A confused look passed between the lovers, but they didn't have time to decipher the meaning behind her words before she showed it to them. Without warning, Lucille pulled the trigger of the gun and the loud ringing of a gunshot filled the room.

The duo barely registered the action before Usui crumpled to the ground in a scream of pain as he clutched his now bleeding leg. Misaki's faced washed over with horror and concern as she dropped next to him, instinctively pressing against the wound to stop the bleeding.

"TAKUMI!" she yelled frantically as she cradled his head with her free hand, "Takumi are you okay" she choked out as tears began to pool in her eyes.

Usui groaned in pain as he clutched at his leg, "I'm fine, Misa," he stammered out pitifully though it was clear to anyone with eyes that his paling face was a clear indicator that he was far from 'fine'.

He feebly attempted to push Misaki behind his body, "Get behind me, Misa." he pleaded hoarsely as he tugged at her.

"Are you crazy?" she screamed hysterically, "You're not a human shield! And you're already injured!"

"Please," he begged, "I can't let you get injured too."

Misaki ignored him and turned to face the blonde woman, a look of pure rage on her features.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she screeched at Lucille, "YOU _SHOT_ HIM!"

Lucille just flippantly waved the gun about, "I did what was needed to be done," she said cooly, seemingly unfazed by the blood oozing out Usui's wound.

"Now," she said as she cocked the gun and smiled eerily at Misaki, "It's time to get rid of the only obstacle between us, and then you and I can be together forever, Takumi," she crooned.

Misaki's eyes widened in horror when she realized what was about to occur and she immediately scrambled to her feet to duck behind a nearby pillar. And not a moment too soon as Lucille once again fired a shot, barely skimming Misaki as the raven haired girl hid.

"You can't hide from me forever," Lucille said in a sing song voice as she started to walk slowly over to where Misaki was hiding.

"STOP IT!" Usui screamed, "PLEASE STOP IT!" he begged as he staggered to his feet, trying to brace his weight on the wall.

He desperately lunged forward towards Lucille to grab the gun out of her hand but in his weakened state she threw him backwards and he hit against the wall.

Usui groaned in pain as all the air was knocked out of him and he laid sprawled on the floor, disoriented from both the impact and the loss of blood. The blonde man was barely able to move a muscle.

"Takumi!" Misaki yelled as she tried to move towards him but was forced to hide behind the pillar once more as Lucille fired another shot.

Misaki's heart pounded in her chest. She had to find a way to get that gun out of Lucille's hand. If she could do that, then Misaki knew she could turn the tables and defeat the psychopathic blonde.

Breathing in deeply, Misaki tried to calm her nerves as she ignored the ringing in her ears, she could do this.

Just then, Usui's started shouting.

"Lucille, please stop! Drop the gun!" he screamed.

Lucille's ice blue eyes blazed up in fury at that, "Why do you care so much about that bitch?" she screeched, "It was suppose to be me whom you love! It was suppose to be me whom you married! And that bitched stole it all from me!"

"I don't love you!" Usui yelled, "I love Misaki!" he yelled, "Why can't you see that?" he cried desperately.

"Fine!" Lucille screeched, "If I can't have you, then no one can!" she screamed and aimed the gun at Usui.

Time seemed to slow down for Misaki as she watched the wretched scene unfold in front of her. Usui just remained laid on the floor, too injured to move as he looked resigned to his fate. He turned his head and gave Misaki a small, sad smile. As he mouthed a few words to her.

'I love you.'

A way of saying goodbye.

'No!' her head screamed. She couldn't let this happen. She had just got him back. She wasn't going to lose him again. Especially not like this.

She couldn't think straight. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as the only thoughts filling her mind were those of protecting the man that she loved. So she did the only thing that seemed sensible; she jumped Lucille, struggling with her to knock the gun out of her hand.

The scuffle between them seemed a blur to Misaki as she fought using her basic instincts, desperately trying to remember every martial arts move she ever learned in the course of her life.

The struggle seemed to turn in her favor for a while, Lucille was not even half was trained as her, and thus Misaki easily overpowered her. But Misaki had a weakness Lucille did not have; Usui, and the blonde knew this well.

Lucille continued to try to aim the gun at Usui and Misaki has to keep trying to block it, putting her at a disadvantage. Soon, Lucille managed to gain the upper hand and squeezed the trigger while aiming at Misaki.

The gunshot rang clear through the air as the bullet came shooting through Misaki's chest. It felt like all the air had been knocked out of her but she barely registered the pain as the body fell onto the cold tiled floor, blood gushing from the open wound.

Her head was fuzzy and her vision was unclear. Her surroundings seemed a haze and everything was dulled out. But she could hear Usui's voice loud and clear as he screamed her name.

"MISAKI!" he cried out as she dropped to the floor while clutching her chest.

Everything was red. Why was everything red?

Her breathing was shallow and her vision was disoriented, but she still managed to process the scene in front of her as Usui snatched the fallen gun and aimed it at Lucille, not even hesitating as he pulled the shot and fired straight through her temple.

More red.

And Misaki blacked out.

* * *

Everything hurt. And yet, everything was numb. She couldn't decide what she was feeling.

But, she could feel a warm hand on her shoulder, desperately trying to shake her awake. And another cradling her head.

The embrace was familiar and comfortable, and soon bright lights began to replace the darkness surrounding her as a pair of worried green eyes filled her vision.

"Ta-Takumi?" Misaki croaked out as she stared up at his tearing face.

"Misaki," he sobbed in relief, "Oh thank god. Just hang on ok, just hang on. The ambulance is on its way. It's gonna be here at any moment now. Just stay with me," he blubbered as he stroked her hair.

"It's cold, Takumi," she mumbled.

"I know, love, I know. But you're doing so well, you just need to hang on a little longer, okay? Can you do that for me?" he shakily asked.

Misaki nodded her head, but it felt off, her head felt too heavy and clouded.

Usui gave her a small smile and kissed her on the forehead.

"Seriously Misa, you need to stop getting injured, people are going to start to think that I abuse you at home or something," Usui teased through his tears, desperately trying to keep her awake and talking.

She feebly rolled her eyes at him, though it took quite a bit of effort, "I'm gonna be fine alien, stop crying," she muttered, "And besides, I'd told you I'd surpass you one day and be the one to save you, didn't I?" she joked.

Usui laughed dryly, cradling her head in his arms, "And you did save me, MIsa. In so many more ways than just this," he whispered as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Misaki slowly reached up and placed her hand over his, "I love you, perverted outer space alien," she breathed.

"I love you too," Usui whimpered, "I've loved you from the start, and I'll never stop loving you," he proclaimed fiercely.

Flashing lights from the ambulance filled up the room and Usui sobbed in relief.

"Help is here, Misa, you've done so well. Now just hang on for a few more seconds. It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay," he smiled.

"I'm so tired," Misaki mumbled, her words barely coherent as her eyes began to slip shut.

"No, no, no," Usui pleaded, "Just stay with me for a while longer, Misa. Come on, just a little bit left."

His words however, fell on deaf ears as Misaki start to feel herself slip out of consciousness.

And the world around her faded out to black.

* * *

 **Can I just say that I frigging love Troye Sivan and that if you haven't heard this song you should totally go check it out. Along with the rest of Blue Neighborhood album cause it awesome.**

 **On another note, leave a review and do let me know what you think!**


	21. Daylight

**This is the last chapter guys.**

 **I don't know how to begin explaining why this chapter is so late. You guys know that my life has been busy from the last couple of chapters, but that hasn't been it. I've never been against sharing my personal life here because number one, there's anonymity, and number two, you guys are my readers, and you deserve an explanation as to why a chapter is late. I've never lied as to why before. When it's because I didn't write I say so. But that isn't it this time. And for once I don't feel comfortable putting this online. It's been months but maybe it's because I haven't fully come to terms with what happened. Just know that I'm sorry. I really am. Over the last months after what happened, words don't flow easily anymore. Writing has become stilted. Everything has. But I will finish what I started.**

* * *

 **Daylight**

* * *

 _Here I am waiting. I'll have to leave soon. Why am I holding on? We knew this day would come, we knew it all along. How did it come so fast?_

* * *

Funerals were the worst kind of gatherings. And despite this not being the most traditional kind of funeral, it didn't make Usui hate it any less.

Rows and rows of people dressed in black sat down in front of him, most of the people's faces were nothing but a blur of tears and sniffles to him. His thoughts were nothing but an incoherent jumble that he couldn't make sense of and he just couldn't seem to focus on anything.

Was he suppose to be crying?

He didn't know what to feel.

He was responsible for the reason why this funeral had to be held. He was the reason why that young woman was lying in that coffin. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to feel anything.

He stared at the coffin numbly. It was an open casket funeral. And he could see her pale and lifeless body clearly even from the distance.

He felt empty as the pastor began to speak, the words fading to nothing but a mumble in the background.

Finally, as the ceremony drew to a close and the coffin descended into the ground, people began trickling away. As they passed him, they all shot him looks, some sympathetic, and some full of disdain. And he supposed he deserved them.

When everyone had left, he stood alone by her gravestone, head bowed.

He didn't know what to feel about the situation at hand, but he did know it was his fault she was dead.

Guilt washed over him but at the same time he knew it had to be done. He didn't have a choice.

Sighing, he lifted up his head and walked away from the grave, but not before turning back and giving the headstone one last rueful glance.

 _Here lies Lucille Hamilton_

 _Beloved daughter_

 _Loving friend_

 _May she rest in peace_

* * *

Usui sighed tiredly as he reentered the house he shared with his girlfriend. While Misaki had been discharged from the hospital after a long week of being quarantined, Usui had insisted she stay at home and not attend the funeral despite Misaki's constant protests. He knew she didn't need the guilt crushing her like it was doing to him.

Though he may have felt guilty about taking a life, he definitely didn't regret his choice. Or lack thereof.

"I'm home," he muttered under his breath as he kicked his shoes off.

He expected to see Misaki laid down on the couch sleeping for resting in her nightwear, but, he received a shock when instead she was sitting on the armrest of the couch awkwardly, fully dressed and bags packed by her feet.

Usui's blood immediately ran cold at the sight. Why was she leaving?

"Hey Misa-chan, whatcha doing?" he asked tensely, though he was trying to keep the atmosphere light.

Misaki's eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights as she tugged on the sleeves of her sweater nervously.

"I-I just thought that since I've been cleared from the hospital and all and the whole fiancée fiasco has died down…well…I guess this is the end," she said stiffly, desperately trying to keep the emotions that were consuming her off her face.

"The end of what?" Usui asked confusedly as he approached her.

"You're free," she said with a shrug, "There's no need for us to keep up this act."

Usui frowned, "Act?" he said in disbelief, "Misaki, this stopped being an act for me a long time ago. And I know it's the same for you."

Misaki looked away, "You can leave. You don't have to feel bound to me if you don't want to," she said, clenching her fists.

"Don't do this," Usui growled as he walked towards Misaki, grabbing her in a secure embrace, "Don't act like this has been nothing to you. Don't do this to us."

She pushed him away, "I'm giving you a choice. I want you to make this decision for yourself," she bit her lip and shielded her face from him, "I don't want you to regret this," her voice drifted away till it was barely above a whisper and Usui could hear the clear insecurities in it.

Usui laughed harshly at that, "You're doing this because you think that I'll regret this?" he scoffed, "Misaki, I've loved you since we were sixteen, and I'll love you until the day I die. I won't regret this," then, his tone softened as he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, "I could never regret _you_."

Misaki smiled up at him through her tears and he kissed the top of her forehead gently.

"I love you, Misaki," he whispered and hugged her tightly again.

This time, she didn't push him away and instead clenched on to his shirt, burying her face in his chest.

"I love you too," she choked.

They hugged tightly, their arms wrapped around each other in such a secure embrace that neither of them wanted to ever let go of the other, but, soon Usui pulled away as he looked deep into Misaki's eyes.

He slowly began to lean it and she reciprocated. Timed seemed to slow down for the duo and as he drew nearer his eyes fluttered shut as hers did.

Just as their lips were about to meet, however, the shrill ringing of the doorbell interrupted them and Misaki jumped away from him, a dark blush covering her features.

Usui groaned lightly as he glared over at the offending door before marching over to it and yanking the door open.

"Can I help you-" he began but the words died in his throat as he saw exactly who it was standing in front of him.

Cold, dark eyes greeted him that were filled with rage and disdain.

Usui immediately stiffened up as he bowed curtly, "Grandfather," he greeted with the same amount of warmth those eyes had for him.

The Grand Duke's nostrils flared angrily at that.

"You do _not_ get to address me with that title after the absolute disaster you created!" the old man spat angrily as he stormed into the house without even waiting for an invitation.

"What do you mean?" Usui asked as calmly as he could.

" _This_!" the Grand Duke sneered as he slammed a tabloid magazine on their kitchen counter top.

On the magazine splashed in large red font read **'WALKER HEIR'S OLD FLAME THREATENING TO CONSUMING EVERYTHING?'**

The article that followed it gave a thorough outline of Usui's and Misaki's entire past, from how they met in high school to their horrible scandal whereby they both jumped off the balcony of the Walker mansion. Both of their family's history was covered extensively, sparing no detail to Misaki's less than average background and her father's shenanigans.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Misaki pale visibly and worry immediately washed over him.

"Are you ok?" he whispered gently to her as he turned to face her, wanting to wrap her up in an embrace.

Before she could respond, however, the Grand Duke cut in.

"Who cares about whether or not she's okay?" he bellowed, "It's this _peasant's_ fault that we're even in this mess! This _affair_ that you have been having needs to come to an end right now!"

Misaki tensed up even more beside him and blood roared in Usui's years.

This was like a sick reenactment of the predicament he had been caught in years ago. Once again he was forced to place his relationship with Misaki at risk all because of his narrow minded family. His whole life seemed to have become nothing but an endless, tiring cycle ever since he rejoined his so called 'family'. Everyday was nothing but a rinse and repeat, making his life have no meaning whatsoever.

It was Misaki that brought light into his life. It was Misaki that made him happy. And he would be damned if he let her go again.

"Did you hear me?" Usui's Grandfather roared, "You either leave this unworthy woman or you leave this family!"

Rage Usui didn't even know he was capable of flared up inside of him as he stood in front of Misaki, protectively and instinctively shielding her body from the line of sight of his Grandfather.

"I will not leave the only person who has ever made me happy," Usui hissed, "The only person who has _truly_ cared about me."

"You want me to pick between your little Empire and the love of my life? You have got to know that choice is a joke," Usui chuckled mirthlessly, "But incase it isn't clear enough for you; I'll be terminating all sort of contact will the Walker family at the next possible convenience," the blonde mocked.

Both the Grand Duke and Misaki gaped at him upon hearing those words, though the former was out of anger while the latter was more out of shock.

Usui smirked, "Good luck running your business now. You're weeks away from your last breath and Gerald is long gone, you've lost all your possible successors, and I'm going to have fun watching this company burn to the ground," Usui taunted haughtily.

The Grand Duke looked positively livid and ready to murder but Usui did not back down.

"You will regret your insolence, you ungrateful bastard," he hissed as he stormed out of the house, slamming the door harshly behind him.

As soon as the man was gone, Usui immediately whirled around to face Misaki, gently cupping her face in his hands.

"Are you alright?" he whispered urgently, "Don't let what he said get to you. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't know the real you. He's nothing but a idiotic bigot who-" his ramblings, however were cut off by Misaki.

"Why?" she croaked out hoarsely and Usui furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Why what?" he asked gently, afraid that pressing her too much might cause her to close off from him.

"Why now?" she elaborated, her voice shaking slightly, "Why would you suddenly give away everything? You didn't the first time," she said softly.

Her concern shocked him but Usui quickly snapped out of it as he smiled warmly and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"I made the mistake of placing my obligations over you all those years ago. I lost you the first time because of that and I'm never going to repeat that mistake ever again. You are my world Misaki, as cheesy as this is going to sound, life without you would have no meaning. It doesn't matter if my family accepts me anymore. Because they aren't what matters to me. _You_ are my family, Misa, _you_ are my home. And I only wished I realized this years ago; you are all I need."

Tears welled up in Misaki's eyes once again and had this been years ago she would've been cursing at herself to be stronger and to not start bawling at every small thing.

But they weren't teenagers anymore. They weren't jaded and guarded and inexplicably afraid to fall in love. They had grown, they were older now, vastly different, and yet, still the same. They retained the best part of their youth; their love for each other.

"I love you, you perverted outer space alien" Misaki smiled.

Usui laughed, "I love you too, demon pres."

* * *

The weeks following that were a blur of lawsuits and unnecessary drama as Usui denounced his claim to the Walker Empire and cut off all ties with the Walker family, keeping true to his word.

Misaki spent the entire time in a numb haze, not daring to believe that they could be finally free of Usui's family's tyrannous rule. The facts only really started to settle into her when Usui came back one day from court, looking decidedly more happy than he had in a while.

Usually when he returned home, he was bone tired from spending the entire day arguing over legal matters, this time however, there was a brilliant smile painted across his features and Misaki dared to let her hope.

The blonde held up a brown envelope in triumph, his green eyes twinkling with mirth and excitement.

"It's done," he said almost breathlessly, "I'm free."

The words took a while to process into Misaki's system, but when it did, an earth shattering grin spread across her face as she leaped into her boyfriend's arms, pressing a searing kiss to his lips.

Their lips moved against each other's effortlessly and both of them would've been contented just to stay there, kissing each other forever but Usui seemed to have other things on his ind as he pulled away from her.

"Wait, wait," he said, mostly collected but a bit breathless - something Misaki couldn't help but be proud about.

She raised her eyebrows at him but otherwise let him continue.

"I want to do this the right way. I want to do this properly," he said, and Misaki almost couldn't tell whether he was talking to her or mumbling to himself.

"What do you mean do it properly?" she asked suspiciously as she pulled back from him, "I don't like where this is headed."

He glared at her playfully, a small smile tugging out at the corner of his mouth, "At least hear me out first, always so untrustworthy, even of your own boyfriend" he grumbled teasingly and reached into his pocket.

From inside, he pulled out a small box and tossed it to her. And, out of pure reflex, she caught it nimbly.

When the soft velvet box landed in her palm, the feeling of deja vu washed over Misaki. With her hands trembling slightly, she reached inside and pulled out a familiar silver band just as she had done so many months back.

Upon seeing her shell shocked face, Usui smiled cheekily and got down on one knee.

"Will you marry me, Misaki Ayuzawa?" he asked gently.

Misaki's body reacted for her before her mind could really process what was going on as she found herself nodding immediately, happy tears springing into her eyes.

Finally, her brain seemed to have stopped short circuiting and she was able to voice her thoughts.

"Yes," she laughed as she threw her arms around him, effectively sending them both toppling to the ground.

Usui chuckled in relief as he hugged her tight.

Misaki slipped her wedding band back onto her finger as she faced Usui with a teasing glint in her eyes, "Did you steal by ring so you could propose to me using it?" she joked.

Usui grinned sheepishly, "Well, you seemed attached to it so I didn't see the point of buying a new one," he defended.

The blonde was oddly shy and out of character as compared to the confident and suave man that Misaki has come to know and love throughout the years. Not that she didn't love every aspect of him. It was a refreshing change, actually.

"Or maybe you're just attached to the person that gave it to you," he smirked confidently at her.

Misaki merely rolled her eyes at him, "I can't believe I just agreed to spend the rest of my life with you," she groaned, though they both could hear the fondness in her tone.

"You love me," Usui grinned happily as he pecked her on the nose.

She pretended to scrunch up her face in disgust, "Unfortunately, I do."

* * *

 **The ended may seem a little weird but I thought it was appropriate to end the story with an 'I do'.**

 **With that said, thank you so much to everyone who has patiently stuck by my side through all the long pauses and still continued to read this story. Thanks for everyone who reviewed and gave their constant support. I'm really thankful for everything.**

 **This series drawing to a close is kind of bittersweet, especially considering this is probably the last Maid-Sama fic I will ever do. And I'm sorry for leaving off with such a serious author note to begin the chapter.**

 **I love you guys so so much.**


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